


Prompts & Drabbles

by EHyde



Category: Akatsuki no Yona | Yona of the Dawn
Genre: F/F, F/M, Gen, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-11-16
Updated: 2017-11-08
Packaged: 2018-04-09 01:35:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 39
Words: 24,774
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4328721
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EHyde/pseuds/EHyde
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Collection of responses to prompts and other short drabbles and ficlets that I have posted to tumblr (basically, all of my Akayona fic that's shorter than 1000 words). Updated on 11/8 with eight new chapters.</p><p>The table of contents, with a (very brief) summary of each fic, is in chapter 1.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Table of Contents

1\. Table of Contents

2\. **[Only a Storm](http://archiveofourown.org/works/4328721/chapters/9816306)**  
From the prompt: "astraphobia -- the fear of thunder and lightning," with Soo-won. 

3\. **[Naming Them](http://archiveofourown.org/works/4328721/chapters/9904790)**  
From the prompt: "onomatophobia -- fear of a name, or a certain name," with Zeno and Yona.

4\. **[Untitled](http://archiveofourown.org/works/4328721/chapters/11093036)**  
Teasing and a little bit of flirting the first time Hak sees Jae-ha's dragon leg (slight Hak/Jae-ha).

5\. **[Untitled](http://archiveofourown.org/works/4328721/chapters/11138222)**  
Lili wants to be stronger, and asks Yona to teach her to use a sword (Yona/Lili).

6\. **[Untitled](http://archiveofourown.org/works/4328721/chapters/11876336)**  
If Yona and Lili had just a little more time to enjoy themselves at the festival in chapter 111 (Yona/Lili).

7\. **[Untitled](http://archiveofourown.org/works/4328721/chapters/12967267)**  
In an attempt to sort out his thoughts after chapter 83, Hak has a talk with Tetora.

8\. **[Untitled](http://archiveofourown.org/works/4328721/chapters/12967729)**  
After the battle where they first see Zeno's powers, Shin-ah does his best to be a supportive big brother (even if Zeno doesn't need it).

9\. **[Palace Games](http://archiveofourown.org/works/4328721/chapters/13209316)**  
A very young Soo-won, Yona, and Hak play together at Hiryuu Castle.

10\. **[Patterns in Time](http://archiveofourown.org/works/4328721/chapters/13209616)**  
After the Blue Forest arc, Shin-ah chooses to remember the good.

11\. **[Untitled](http://archiveofourown.org/works/4328721/chapters/13210252)**  
The oldest and the youngest of the HHB talk about what it means to grow up.

12\. **[Letting Go](http://archiveofourown.org/works/4328721/chapters/13435591)**  
Kaya’s spirit lingers on, until Zeno lets go (Zeno/Kaya).

13\. **[Games of Strategy](http://archiveofourown.org/works/4328721/chapters/13575571)**  
Young Soo-won learns some tricks of the trade from his parents.

14\. **[Untitled](http://archiveofourown.org/works/4328721/chapters/14676862)**  
After giving everyone else a haircut, Yun brushes Zeno’s hair.

15\. **[Red Star's Promise](http://archiveofourown.org/works/4328721/chapters/14839360)**  
The day after his birthday, Kija asks his father what the red star means.

16\. **[Gentleness](http://archiveofourown.org/works/4328721/chapters/16185166)**  
Seiryuu Ao learns to care for baby Shin-ah (five-sentence fic prompt).

17\. **[Like Kittens Playing Games](http://archiveofourown.org/works/4328721/chapters/16330772)**  
Hak and Shin-ah bonding, after a brief misunderstanding.

18. **[New in Town](http://archiveofourown.org/works/4328721/chapters/16397233)**  
For neither the first time nor the last, Zeno starts over somewhere new.

19\. **[Untitled](http://archiveofourown.org/works/4328721/chapters/17091137)**  
Yona, Hak, and Suwon meet Zeno while playing in the palace.

20\. **[Birthday Sweets](http://archiveofourown.org/works/4328721/chapters/18105091)**  
Yun prepares a special treat for Zeno's birthday

21\. **[Hidden Flower](http://archiveofourown.org/works/4328721/chapters/18788263)**  
Tetora treats Ayura to a special gift.

22\. **[Ridiculous Prompt #1](http://archiveofourown.org/works/4328721/chapters/18986006)**  
After her visit to Hiryuu Castle, Lili meets Keishuk

23\. **[Ridiculous Prompt #2](http://archiveofourown.org/works/4328721/chapters/18986069)**  
Yun almost sells Zeno and the rest of the Happy Hungry Bunch to the circus

24\. **[Ridiculous Prompt #3](http://archiveofourown.org/works/4328721/chapters/18986110)**  
Tae-jun has a very strange dream about Yona's friend the white death-god.

25\. **[A Very Silly Fic in Which Hak Acquires Cat Ears](http://archiveofourown.org/works/4328721/chapters/19310290)**  
What the title says.

26\. **[Fading Light](http://archiveofourown.org/works/4328721/chapters/19690402)  
** The unnamed Seiryuu's final thoughts.

27\. **[Untitled](http://archiveofourown.org/works/4328721/chapters/19690423)**  
Garou doesn't believe in the ghost that Jaeha saw.

28\. **[Untitled](http://archiveofourown.org/works/4328721/chapters/20838481)**  
Su-won and Yona play together as children.

29\. **[Only Happy Memories](http://archiveofourown.org/works/4328721/chapters/20838502)**  
Zeno and Kaya make a promise to each other on New Year's Day.

30\. **[Small Protections](http://archiveofourown.org/works/4328721/chapters/21222065)**  
Kouren and Tao weren't always enemies. Ten years ago, they kept each other safe.

31\. **[Untitled](http://archiveofourown.org/works/4328721/chapters/28872471)**  
As a new member of Gi-gan's crew, Jaeha is suspicious of a passenger they picked up.

32\. [**Untitled**](http://archiveofourown.org/works/4328721/chapters/28872528)  
Kouren and Neguro in a modern au.

33\. [**Untitled**](http://archiveofourown.org/works/4328721/chapters/28872579)  
Hiryuu protects Abi in battle after his paralysis kicks in.

34\. [**She's Not Here**](http://archiveofourown.org/works/4328721/chapters/28872654)  
Zeno revisits the place he used to live with Kaya, and tries to hold onto memories as the world changes around him.

35\. [**Untitled**](http://archiveofourown.org/works/4328721/chapters/28872678)  
Lili is haunted by memories of what she experienced--and did--in Sei. An unexpected friend offers a listening ear.

36\. [**The Beast of the Chi'shin Hills**](http://archiveofourown.org/works/4328721/chapters/28872765)  
Geun-tae sets out to hunt a legendary monster, but Yuno knows more than she lets on.

37\. [**Untitled (Haunted Prompt #1)**](http://archiveofourown.org/works/4328721/chapters/28872789)  
The blue dragon spirit that haunted Shinah hasn't left.

38\. [**Untitled (Haunted Prompt #2)**](http://archiveofourown.org/works/4328721/chapters/28872801)  
Young Shinah is haunted by the ghost of one of the soldiers he killed. 

39\. [**Untitled (Haunted Prompt #3)**](http://archiveofourown.org/works/4328721/chapters/28872810)  
The heavens sent Su-won a message, in a roundabout way.


	2. Only a Storm (Akatsuki no Yona)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> prompt: "astraphobia -- the fear of thunder and lightning" from cynicwithatwist

_It’s only weather. The heavens hold no danger for me._  In fact, the rain would be good for the land, and if anything, the storm should be considered a blessing. The instinct to flinch away from the lightning was a relic of—

 _Two boys stood outside, under the courtyard’s low awning, and watched the rain fall in the cool night. A bolt of lightning lit up the sky and Soo-won flinched, stepped back._ _“Hah! Don’t tell me you’re still scared of—” Hak, standing at his side, broke off as he turned to face him, took his hand as thunder cracked in the distance. “Did you hear? They started calling me the Thunder Beast of Kouka.” Another blaze of light hit, and the thunder rumbled closer this time. “The lightning’s on your side now.” Hak’s eyes shone only with excitement as they reflected the light in the sky. “As long as the Thunder Beast is with you, you’ll never be hurt.”_

 _There was a storm, too, on the night that he had known must come, and lightning cracked through the sky at the very moment his blade pierced Il’s heart._ _A bolt of lightning—divine retribution. But lights in the sky could not touch him. What he had cast aside … was therefore irrelevant._ _“A single blow from his blade is like lightning,” said Keishuk, at his side, but it wasn’t._

_“If the Thunder Beast is there, you won’t lose, no matter what.” Perhaps it was because the sky had been clear, sunny, that day, that he’d been able to say those words so casually. Forgetting how many times those words had kept him steady. Forgetting what it would really mean for the Thunder Beast to be there, in front of him, right now. Hak was injured, unarmed, but a bolt of lightning was not a blow from a blade, and Soo-won found himself struck in place._

Actual thunder and lightning hadn’t frightened Soo-won in years. But this was the first storm of the season, the first time since that day in Sensui—

 _It’s only weather,_  he steeled himself again.  _And lightning never strikes twice._


	3. Naming Them (always makes it harder)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> stars-glow-for-you asked: "Onomatophobia - fear of a name, or a certain name; Zeno" and also requested something between Yona and Zeno

“You’re getting better, miss!” It was dark, and the other dragons, the lad, and even the Thunder Beast were asleep. Zeno sat on a low tree branch, watching the princess practice her katas.

She paused in her footwork and lowered her blade to her side, looking up at him. “Do you really think so?”

Zeno nodded. “Definitely! Zeno remembers when the miss first started! You’ve come a long way since then.” She sighed, and Zeno could tell she didn’t take him seriously. He leapt down to the ground and looked her in the eyes. “Zeno means it!”

“Hey, Zeno?”

“…yes?”

“Will—will you call me ‘Yona,’ sometimes?” He froze. “If … if calling me by name reminds you that I’m not the one you were waiting for … well it’s just … I’m  _not_ Hiryuu.” She looked down at the short, lightweight weapon in her hand. “I won’t ever be him and … the other dragons call me Yona.”

_She still thinks she has to be—_  “Zeno … Zeno doesn’t want you to be Hiryuu,” he said.

“I know you said you chose to follow me for my own sake,” she said quickly. “But … Hiryuu was very precious to you, right? I can tell.”

“He was. And so is Yona! Miss … Zeno doesn’t want you to be anyone else. That isn’t why—” Her eyes widened, and Zeno was reminded that in some ways—in her perception of those around her—she was very much  _like_  Hiryuu. Time to change the subject. “Zeno will use Yona’s name, Zeno can do that!” He smiled. “Now you can go back to practicing. Zeno didn’t mean to interrupt!”

“Zeno.” She lay down her sword. “You also … you always say Hakuryuu, Ryokuryuu, Seiryuu. Even Hak and Yun—” She took his hands in hers and looked into his eyes. “Do you think that will make it easier when we leave you behind?”

He might have thought that, once. He knew, now, it wasn’t true, but centuries of instinct, ever since Kaya, centuries of  _don’t get too close—_

“Zeno, I can’t promise not to leave you. I don’t know how to make that promise yet.” Her eyes glistened with tears but her voice was steady, and that “yet” was a promise itself. “But … we’re your family. All of us. I want you to cherish our time with you and … I don’t want you to forget me.” She reached up to wipe the tears from her eyes but Zeno found his hand there first, brushing against the soft skin of her cheek. “So please, call us all by our names, sometimes?” she asked with a hopeful smile.

Zeno smiled in return, a genuine smile, and reached out and wrapped his arms around her. She was so young, and yet the things she said, the things she saw in him— “Don’t worry, Yona,” he said. “Zeno can never forget you.”


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Seeing a picture of Hak and Jae-ha together wearing very little … clearly, Jae-ha is no longer uncomfortable showing his dragon leg around Hak … I wonder how that might’ve come about?

They’d made camp near a real river today, and with the warm, late summer sun, and the cool shade of the overhanging trees, it would be a perfect day for swimming … or that’s what Hak would have thought if he were back home in the Wind Tribe, with plenty of leisure time to do as he pleased. Yun had asked him to carry water for tonight’s cooking, but Hak couldn’t help admiring the scenery, and remembering more peaceful times, as he approached the water’s edge. Jae-ha, it seemed, had come to the river as well, and Hak wondered what he was doing. Hadn’t he said he was going to scout out the area? Instead, he was … bathing, it seemed. Why Jae-ha would ever want to be secretive about that … then Hak caught sight of the dragon’s leg, covered in green scales to above the knee. This … was actually the first time he’d seen it, come to think of it. Even when they all bathed together, Jae-ha always kept it covered. Hak couldn’t help but feel his eyes drawn to the emerald scales, sparkling with water droplets under the afternoon sun.

“Yo.” Hak called out his approach as he descended the steep path to the riverbank, and Jae-ha hastily tugged his trousers back on over his legs—though that did nothing to hide the scaled, green foot peeking out from underneath. “Stop acting like I came to spy on you bathing,” said Hak. “Not everyone’s a pervert like you. I’m just getting water for camp.” Jae-ha—presumably in an attempt to be subtle—edged closer to the river until the water started lapping at the hem of his pants, covering his foot. “You’re getting your clothes wet,” said Hak. “Look, I know you’re weird about it, but I really don’t care about your dragon leg.”

“I’m not weird about anything!” Jae-ha protested.

Hak rolled his eyes. “You’re definitely weird about it,” he repeated, reaching down to fill his pail with water. “You’re worse than Shin-ah with his mask—at least we’ve all seen his eyes. Even if,” he couldn’t resist adding, “it took some of us quite a long time.”

“That’s not fair, Hak,” said Jae-ha. “It’s said that Seiryuu’s eyes are one of the most beautiful sights in the world; of  _course_  I’d want to catch a glimpse of them.”

“Right,” said Hak. “And what with the way you always kept your foot hidden, I was expecting it to be ugly, or something.” He turned with his full pail of water to walk back up the path to camp, only for Jae-ha to leap in front of him, blocking his path.

“Hold on,” Jae-ha said. “Just what do you mean by that?”

“Hm? Well, it’s just, Shin-ah had good reasons to hide his eyes, but since you take every excuse you can to strip—” here Hak rolled his eyes again “—I thought the only reason you’d hide it was if it was ugly. So I was just confused for a bit, is all.” He watched Jae-ha’s eyes shift in confusion, then reached out an arm to push the dragon aside and continue up the trail.

“Hold it,” Jae-ha began. “Wait just a minute. Are you saying—”

“Droopy-eyes, you’ve tried to get me to call you beautiful since the first day we met; I’m  _definitely_  not going to start right now.”

“Well—good!”

 _Huh?_  That wasn’t the reaction this sort of teasing was supposed to get. “Good?”

“Yes, good! If you’re going to acknowledge my beauty, it should be for something that’s  _me,_  right?”

 _Ah, so it’s that._  Hak didn’t know how to say that the sharp, yet somehow delicate-looking claws of the dragon’s foot, the sleek and elegant green scales, were the perfect complement to the man he knew—didn’t know how to say it without admitting some sort of defeat, at least. “Well then, it’s definitely a good thing that I was never planning on doing that,” Hak said, sticking out his tongue.

“Ha-ak…”

“Still,” said Hak, stepping carefully around the other man, “it’s not like it doesn’t suit you.” And as he headed back to camp, he thought,  _it really is a beautiful day._  Surely there would be time before Yun finished dinner to come back to the river and enjoy it.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yona/Lili sword training prompt from mcgrillzdumpinc on tumblr

“Lili … I told you, I shouldn’t be the one teaching you. I may have picked up a few things, but I—I make mistakes all the time! Hak is always there to correct me, but I don’t have the knowledge and training to correct you.”

Lili just gripped her dagger tighter. Yona was so amazing, so strong—did she have to be so modest, too? It was infuriating! “You already said you didn’t think Hak or Shin-ah would train me,” she said. “But I want to become stronger, too! So you’re the only one!”

“Ayura’s quite skilled with a blade, isn’t she?” Yona asked. And, well, that was true, but … she remembered, years ago, when Ayura and Tetora had offered to train her in combat. Lili had tossed the suggestion aside—she was the daughter of a general, after all, and would have far more powerful tools at her disposal than direct one-on-one combat.

“She’d laugh at me,” Lili said, though that wasn’t quite it. Tetora would laugh, and then Ayura would ask, in that annoyingly knowing way of hers, just who it was that Lili wanted to become strong for?

“Well,” said Yona, hesitantly. “You can watch me practice, and try to follow my movements if you want. I learned a lot from watching Shin-ah that way!” And as she began her routine, it was like watching someone fall into a dream—her movements were so fluid, so graceful, that Lili was reminded not of the times Yona had drawn her blade in earnest, but rather of that night in Shisen, when Yona had been dancing …  _right, right, I’m supposed to follow along._  Hesitantly, she tried to mimic the other girl’s stance, tried to hold her blade the way that Yona held hers. It got heavy very quickly.  _What is this? It’s just a dagger, it’s not even a sword! It’s lighter than a purse!_  She gritted her teeth. As long as Yona kept going, she would, too.

“Oh, my!”

Yona lowered her blade at the interruption, and with a deep, relieved breath, Lili did too—though she wasn’t grateful to have Ayura and Tetora walk in on them like this. “Miss Ayura,” Yona began. “Lili wants to learn, but I’m not a teacher. Please, train her!” With a slight smile, Ayura nodded, and Lili blushed furiously. How dare Yona ask that so boldly on her behalf? That wasn’t even what she really— _wait, of course it’s what I wanted. What else—?_  “Great!” Yona said.“I’m going to go check on the others.” And with a bright, oblivious smile, she left the courtyard.

Lili looked back to Ayura and Tetora. “Well, now,” said Tetora. “Today, we’re neither your ladies-in-waiting nor your bodyguards. Today, we’re you’re instructors. Are you prepared?” Lili took a deep breath, and nodded.

What seemed like hours later, Lili was almost prepared to give up. How did Yona do it? What Lili was doing here—not mimicking the graceful movements of Yona’s blade, but going through an endless chorus of corrections to her stance—this could never protect anyone.  _Ugh,_  Ayura and Tetora were just teasing her, weren’t they? If it was  _Yona’s_  hand on her shoulder, correcting her posture, then it might be bearable, but—

“I’m back!” And Yona stepped back into the courtyard like she’d been gone for barely any time at all. Wait, how long had it really been? Surely Lili had been going through this agony for at least an hour …?  _No,_  she realized, with another sigh.  _I’m just that weak._  Yona glanced at Lili, then at Lili’s instructors. “Ayura, Tetora,” Yona began. “I forgot to ask earlier—I’m still a beginner myself. Please, train me as well!” And Yona picked up her blade again, fell in beside Lili in the beginner’s stance that Lili knew must be far beneath the other girl—and she seemed entirely sincere. Yona’s body easily flowed from one stance to another as Tetora called them out.  _Is she—?_  Lili was watching Yona’s movement, not Ayura’s, and she caught herself and forced her gaze back toward her bodyguard—only to see Ayura and Tetora not watching either of their students, but sharing a smile with each other.  _What’s so funny? I knew it, I knew they’d laugh at me!_  But Yona was beside her, Yona was going through her paces without complaint, and Yona could somehow make even  _this_ grueling exercise seem like a dance. And Lili didn’t know why it was—Yona hadn’t said a word since she picked her sword back up, hadn’t actually helped Lili at all—but somehow, moving in sync with Yona beside her, it began to feel like she was dancing, too.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yona/Lili -- dancing, prompt written for taotrooper on tumblr

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Set in a slight AU to chapter 111, where everyone has a little more time to enjoy the festival before the bad stuff happens.

“Oh, look, there’s dancing, too!” Yona knew they were supposed to be investigating, but the crowds of people in colorful festival clothes kept drawing her attention.

“Do you want to join in?”

Yona turned to look at Lili. “What? I don’t—”

“ _Don’t_  try to tell me you can’t dance,” said Lili. “I remember when I first saw you in Shisen, so I won’t believe it.”

Yona’s face flushed as she remembered the sort of dancing she’d done in Shisen—and the sort of outfit she’d been wearing while doing it. But that was silly; she’d had a reason for doing that, so remembering it—realizing Lili remembered it—shouldn’t bother her. “I’m not doing  _that_  kind of dance here,” Yona said. “Besides, we have work to do.”

“It looks like your men decided they could take the time to enjoy the festival, so I’m sure you can, too.” It was true that Yona hadn’t been to a festival like this … well, ever. It was completely different than the Fire Festival in Senri Village had been, and nothing like holidays at Hiryuu Castle, either. “You must know other dances, right?”

“Well, there was the dance I did in Kai … and I practiced dances at the palace, too.” Neither of those seemed fitting, though, not with the carefree attitude of the festival crowd here.

Lili took Yona’s hand. “Yona,” she said. “Haven’t you ever danced … not as a performance? Haven’t you ever danced  _with_  someone?”

“Well, I never …” Never what? Had the opportunity? But people had danced in the Fire Tribe, people had danced after their victory in Awa. Had someone to dance with? But that wasn’t true, either. Any one of the dragons would have danced with her, if she’d asked, she was almost sure of it. Even Hak would have, probably. “No one’s ever asked me,” she said, finally.

Lili stopped in her tracks, then turned to face Yona straight on. “Yona,” she began, with a determined look on her face that, somehow, reminded Yona of the moment before she’d taken command of the Water Tribe’s army in Sensui. “Please dance with me!” Then she dropped Yona’s hand and turned away. Yona giggled.

“Lili,” she said. “Of course I’ll dance with you!” She paused. “I don’t know this dance, though—I don’t know the steps.”

“It’s a folk dance,” said Lili, taking Yona’s hand again and dragging her toward the plaza full of dancers before Yona had a chance to change her mind. “You don’t have to know all the steps—no one will be watching you in particular.”

“Do you know it?”

“Of course! I mean, I know enough. I basically know it!”

Yona smiled. “I’ll just follow you, then.” She glanced around at the crowd. “I see we start by holding hands.” And she’d honestly expected Lili to falter, to not know the steps as well as she let on— _but she’s moving with such confidence, with such happiness, I honestly wouldn’t know if she made a mistake or not_. Yona had seen Lili frightened, seen her determined, but— _have I ever seen her this openly happy before?_  She supposed the mood of the festival was so cheerful that—abruptly, Yona realized. Lili’s eyes weren’t on the other dancers, weren’t taking in the atmosphere of the festival—Lili’s eyes were only on her. She froze.

“Yona? Are you all right?”

“I’m fine!” She picked up the steps again.  _Somehow, it’s_ me _that makes Lili so happy. Why—?_  Yona didn’t know what it meant. But as she raised her eyes to meet Lili’s—she had the moves down now—she felt that happiness reflected in her own face as they gripped each other’s hands tightly and let the dance spin them away.


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In an attempt to sort out his thoughts after chapter 83, Hak has a talk with Tetora.
> 
> This was a Secret Santa gift for [rei-ryoku](http://rei-ryoku.tumblr.com) on tumblr.

_“This is my wound,”_ she’d said. How ridiculous. As if there could ever be a time when Hak wouldn’t feel every single one of Yona’s injuries. _Why do you insist on this?_ This wasn’t her role, wasn’t her path. And yet … _“It would have been bad, if it hadn’t been for what you taught me.”_  Well, it _was_ bad. Left untreated, that would have been a fatal injury. _Idiot. What did I think would happen, when I agreed to train her?_ Yona credited him for her success—for her survival—but if that was on him, then her wound must be as well. _She won’t admit it, but I_ did _fail her. I need—_ What did he need? _To ensure that she can’t be hurt._ And Yona—Yona would keep doing this. She’d keep putting herself in danger, despite all of her protectors. Hak wouldn’t be able to stop her.

He was pacing. Yona was asleep again, Zeno watching over her while Yun treated Tetora’s injuries. _That’s right. Yona wasn’t the only one who was hurt. Lili’s maid was there when it happened._

He found himself at the door to Tetora’s room, pushing it open. “Thunder Beast, you’ll be in the way,” Yun protested as Hak entered the room.

“Is Tetora awake? I want to talk—”

As Yun began to refuse him, Tetora, who was indeed awake, nodded weakly. “Let him stay,” she said, her voice hoarse.

“You shouldn’t—” Yun began, but Tetora cut him off with a look far sharper than Hak would have expected her condition to allow.

“It’s all right,” Tetora said. “I know what he wants.”

Yun nodded, briefly, and stepped out of the room.

“You’re not just Lili’s maid,” Hak said without preamble. “I’ve seen how you move. You protect her.” Tetora nodded. _And yet Yona had to protect you._ Hak cut off that line of thought. That wasn’t the issue at hand. “Tell me how it happened. I need to know how she—I need to know how it happened. Where she faltered.”

Tetora paused. “You trained her well,” she said. “I didn’t see everything, but … you have a good student.”

_“Tell me,”_ Hak repeated. He didn’t need false comfort. He needed to _know_.

“If there was anything,” Tetora said, finally, “it’s that she wasn’t prepared to face two at once.” _Two at once?_ Shin-ah hadn’t said anything about two at once—but of course, he wouldn’t have. “She held her own against the first,” Tetora continued. “But it took all her concentration. I think … the second man came from behind.”

And Hak had specifically trained Yona to keep all her focus on him, on her opponent. Without realizing it, he’d been training her for duels, for tournament-style combat, for an opponent who could be counted on to fight with honor. _Idiot. The kind of life we’ve been leading … it’s not like I didn’t know what sort of people she’d face._ Yona,  _she’d_ been willing to face those men. Hak was the one who …

_I failed her. It_ was _my fault._

“It’s all right,” Tetora said.

“… pardon?”

“What you must be thinking,” she said. “She did it for me, didn’t she? I told her to run away, I told them both to. And if they had, she’d be fine. It’s all right. I don’t mind.”

Yona _should_ have run away. She’d be fine. _And Tetora would be dead._ Hak didn’t know this woman, but as a bodyguard, she knew what she was saying. Leaving Tetora to die … would have been the safe choice. The choice Hak should have wanted her to make. And yet … an image of another Yona flashed into his mind. A safe, hidden Yona. A Yona led along by the hand, mindless, unresponsive, stripped of all personality—stripped of her very self. _She saw someone stabbed with a sword that time, too,_ he realized.

“No,” he began. Tetora looked up at him, surprised. “If Yona had run away … she wouldn’t be Yona at all.”


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Set between chapters 100 and 101, here's Shin-ah being the supportive big brother for once! (even if Zeno doesn't need it) (Zeno definitely needs it)

Shin-ah lay still, facedown, as Yun dressed and bandaged his wound. The paralysis had worn off quickly this time, but the spear thrust to his shoulder—Shin-ah thought that was fine, too; he’d been hurt worse fighting bandits as a child, usually without anyone to tend his wounds, but Yun had insisted. It was nice, actually. The boy’s hands were gentle, calm. _He’s not Yona, and he’s not a dragon, either. But he’s not afraid._ There had been times, in Seiryuu Village, when he _had_ been hurt badly by bandits, and the care provided by the villagers was … not like this. And Shin-ah had used his powers. This wasn’t like before, when Yona was the only one who saw. No, Yun had seen the soldiers fall, and still he was …

Well, maybe it was that he’d seen powers that might be even more frightening than Shin-ah’s.

“All right,” said Yun. “That’s it. That’s … everyone who was hurt.”

_Everyone except Zeno,_ thought Shin-ah, recognizing the pause for what it meant. He sat up, made sure his mask was securely in place, nodded in thanks to Yun, then looked around the group. Zeno wasn’t there. _No! Zeno can’t go away now!_ But the others didn’t seem bothered—Yona wasn’t upset—so maybe it wasn’t bad. Maybe he wasn’t _gone_ gone.

But also … maybe the others hadn’t noticed. Sometimes, they didn’t notice things.

Shin-ah looked around, past the trees that surrounded the small grove they’d come to after the battle. Zeno wasn’t very far away, and he wasn’t hard to find. Still covered in golden scales, wearing only a few scraps of fabric, he shone like sunlight reflected on water. Slowly, Shin-ah stood up, waiting for a chance to leave the clearing without drawing the others’ attention. Kija was distracted, engaged in conversation with Jae-ha, and before he left, Shin-ah went to his pack, pulling out one of the white dragon’s spare robes, just the under layer. _Kija lent me his clothes when mine were damaged. He won’t mind._

Zeno gave a slight smile at his approach. “Zeno can’t hide from Seiryuu, eh?”

“You’re shiny,” Shin-ah agreed. Then, “Don’t … hide, okay?” He held out the folded piece of clothing.

Zeno took the robe, a bigger smile this time as he threw it on, pulling off the last remaining scraps of his old clothes. “Don’t worry! Zeno wasn’t leaving for good!” He paused, looking up at Shin-ah with piercing eyes. “Is that what you thought?”

_Is that what I thought?_ That immediate panic, when Zeno wasn’t with the others … it didn’t make any sense. Zeno wasn’t the type to abandon his friends. And yet … “I … thought I had to leave,” Shin-ah began. “When Yona saw my powers.” Shin-ah didn’t want to call Zeno a monster. Zeno was his friend, his brother. But he’d kept his powers secret too.

Zeno said it for him. “Zeno’s powers are scary, too, is that it?”

Shin-ah nodded. “Yona … told me to stay. Everyone …” _Everyone wanted me to stay. Even Hak and Yun, who have nothing to do with the Four Dragons, no reason to see me as anything but a monster. They felt like a real family._ “I don’t think anyone wants you to leave,” he finished, hoping that Zeno would understand his meaning.

“Zeno wasn’t leaving,” Zeno repeated. “Zeno’s going to stay for good.”

Shin-ah reached down, pulling Zeno into an embrace just as Yona had, earlier. He’d been on the outside of that, hadn’t felt the cool smoothness of Zeno’s scales against his skin as he did now. But he could tell they were already beginning to fade away. “Good,” he said. “It’s good … having brothers.”

“It’s good,” Zeno repeated.


	9. Palace Games

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> prompt: "this has been done time and time again but prompt: baby/toddler yona + person of your choice?" --anon on tumblr

Two years old was probably too young to understand what a birthday really was, but Soo-won didn’t care. His cousin Yona was the king’s grandchild, just like he was, and that meant that she got a big celebration. That must be exciting for a two-year-old, even if she didn’t understand it was all for her.

When Yona was smaller, she just lay around all the time and wasn’t fun at all. Soo-won’s mother had laughed and said that all babies were like that. Now, Yona was big enough to play with, even if she never had any interesting ideas of her own (Mother had laughed when Soo-won complained about that, too). A big party like this was going to be a _great_ place to play—today the palace was full of interesting people from all over the kingdom. Now, he just had to find Yona.

She wasn’t hard to find—she was with her mother. “Aunt Seihwa,” he asked, “can I play with Yona?” A short figure with a head full of bright red hair peeked out from behind the Lady Seihwa’s skirts. She raised one hand in a cheerful wave, then looked around anxiously, stepping back into her hiding place.

Lady Seihwa turned around and bent down. “Do you want to play with your cousin?”

Yona stepped forward and nodded. “Hi, Soo-won!”

“Don’t keep her too long,” Lady Seihwa said as Soo-won took Yona’s hand.

“Why were you hiding?” Soo-won asked, as he led his cousin through the hall.

“There’s … lots of people.”

“Lots of people you don’t know, huh? Is that scary?” Yona nodded, gripping his hand tight. “Well, how about this?” Soo-won asked. “You like exploring, right?”

“Uh-huh.” Neither child actually lived in the royal palace, and when they were here together on less busy days, exploring together had become one of Yona’s favorite games to play with Soo-won.

“Today, we’re exploring _people,_ instead of exploring places, okay?”

Yona’s eyes widened. “Okay!”

“Look, those people over there, see? They’re from the Fire Tribe. That’s why they’ve all got pictures of fire on their clothes …” Yona, far less timid now, eagerly followed Soo-won’s lead as he took the girl through the crowds of people. “Oh, look! There’s General Mundok! He’s Father’s friend, let’s go say hi to him!” But he could feel Yona’s hesitation. Maybe the general looked a little bit scary to someone who didn’t know him. “He gives really good piggyback rides,” Soo-won added, and Yona’s eyes lit up. But when they got close to the general, another boy was sitting on the old man’s shoulders.

“Soo-won,” said the general, lifting the dark-haired boy and setting him back down on the ground. “This is my grandson, Hak.”

Soo-won didn’t know that General Mundok had a grandson.

“I’m not—” the boy began, but he shut up at a one-eyed glare from the general.

The two boys looked at each other for a moment. Then Hak turned his gaze to Yona. “Your hair’s weird,” he said.

“Don’t insult your hostess!” General Mundok chided the boy, but all Yona did was stick out her tongue.

“Wanna play?” she asked. “We’re ‘sploring.”

The dark-haired boy paused. “‘Kay,” he said. “Let’s play outside, then.”

Yona nodded. She didn’t care. “… going to have to interact with lords and ladies eventually,” Soo-won heard General Mundok mutter, but Hak pointedly ignored him.

This ruined Soo-won’s plan of seeing all the guests, but he didn’t care, either. Meeting another boy his own age—who maybe was or maybe wasn’t General Mundok’s grandson—was going to be a lot more interesting than just looking at strangers.

The palace grounds were huge—it was possible to explore them for hours and hours. And so, by the time they came to the soldiers’ training grounds, Soo-won had lost track of time. “Soo-won!”

Soo-won jumped at the sound of that voice, turned. “F-father?”

His father, Lord Yuhon, strode towards them. “You shouldn’t have come out here,” he said. “People are starting to worry.”

“We weren’t—” Soo-won began, then looked down. “We’ll come inside now,” he said. Was Father mad at him?

“I’m not mad,” Yuhon said, sensing Soo-won’s distress. “Your uncle Il is just very protective of his daughter. But don’t worry,” he added, as they walked back inside to Yona’s birthday celebration, “I know I can count on you to protect your cousin with all of your might.”


	10. Patterns in Time

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Fic prompt: how about a time when Shin-ah teaches somebody something? A skill or some knowledge that he learned growing up that they wouldn't know" --luckyfilbert

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> takes place after chapters 106-108 of the manga

Yun sighed. It had been five days, and the tent still wasn’t ready. Maybe this had been a bad idea.

When he’d gathered the sliced-up fabric and broken poles, Shin-ah had surprised him, asking if he could repair the tent himself. “You don’t have to,” Yun reassured him. “No one blames you.”

But to that, Shin-ah only said “I want to.”

Yun didn’t know if Shin-ah knew how to sew at all. Well, he supposed he must—remembering the attitude of the rest of Seiryuu Village, Yun knew that Shin-ah must have been self-sufficient for years. But that didn’t mean he would know how to build a tent from scratch. And they were traveling back south, back into the Water Tribe, and really, it was pure luck that none of these past five nights had been rainy. They’d need that tent soon.

“Shin-ah!” He didn’t even know where Shin-ah had gone to work on it. He only seemed to work at night, or when the others weren’t around. “Shin-ah, where did you go?”

“…here.”

Yun followed the sound of the voice. He found Shin-ah sitting with his back to a tree, facing away from the camp, a panel of fabric spread out across his lap. “Shin-ah, it’s about the tent. If it’s too much, I can …” He glanced down at Shin-ah’s work. It hadn’t stood out in the darkness at first, but— “Shin-ah, that’s not—”

“It’s … slower than I thought. Sorry.”

“No, it’s beautiful.” It wasn’t a tent, though. The panel of fabric that lay out before him was half-covered in embroidery, geometric shapes in a style that Yun had never seen before. No, wait, that wasn’t true. In the caves of Seiryuu Village, there had been wall hangings … Yun picked up a corner of the fabric, feeling the texture of the stitching between his fingers. It was too dark to make out every detail, but this wasn’t just basic stitching, either. There were complex knots and patterns, techniques that Yun had never even seen. “Where did you learn this?”

“I watched.”

“In your village?” Of course, no one in Seiryuu Village would have actually taught Shin-ah anything. He would have watched from a distance, and— _slower than I thought,_ he’d said. Just watched, sometime in his childhood, and this was his first time actually using this skill. Ik-su had always praised Yun’s ability to learn quickly, but what he could do was nothing compared to this. Shin-ah could learn fighting techniques just by watching, too—the visual memory that went along with his dragon’s eyes was really something amazing. “Let me watch you work sometime,” Yun said. “But in the day. I can’t see well enough to sew in the dark, you know.”

Shin-ah nodded. “You … like it?”

Yun nodded. “Although,” he mused, “I don’t know why you’d choose to pattern something after your village.” It wasn’t like Shin-ah ever talked about Seiryuu Village, but Yun had been there, and— “It wasn’t a happy place for you, I know that much.”

“There was sewing like this in his village, too,” said Shin-ah. It took Yun a moment to realize who Shin-ah meant. The other Seiryuu, the one who had possessed him. “It was … almost exactly the same. I thought … my village forgot too many things, but at least they remembered something nice.”

“You’re doing this to remember him, aren’t you?”

“Is—is that all right? We—he—hurt you …”

The ghost of the former Seiryuu _had_ hurt Yun, and scared him, too, which was worse. But Yun had heard the full story later. That village had locked their Seiryuu in the dark, too, alone, afraid—of all the traditions that Seiryuu Village had passed down, the fact that Shin-ah had chosen instead to remember this one—the fact that he was even capable of making that choice— “Yes, Shin-ah, of course it’s all right,” he said. Then practicality took over. “But don’t embroider a tent!”

“You just said …”

“I mean,” said Yun, “I’ll make the tent from sturdy canvas like before. You keep making panels like this. We’ll hang them on the inside. That way when it rains, they’ll stay clean and dry. And they’ll add an extra layer of warmth to the tent, too.”

“Oh!” Shin-ah nodded, understanding.

Well, just as Yun had thought, tent-making duty had fallen back to him. But it didn’t feel like a burden. Rather, the chance to learn a new technique, and from such an unexpected source, felt like a gift. “If you teach me,” Yun said, “I’ll remember, too.”


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The oldest and the youngest of the HHB talk about what it means to grow up. For a prompt from laz but I took off in a different direction than the prompt.

“Come on, we’re going into town.” Yun grabbed Zeno by the arm and tugged, lifting him from his resting place. “I’ve got medicine to sell and supplies to buy, and the others are all busy here.”

“But Zeno was—”

“Zeno was being lazy, is what!”

“Okay, okay …” Zeno shouldered one of Yun’s bags, and they set off through the forest, the dense foliage quickly separating them from the camp. They hadn’t gone far before Zeno turned a sharp glance up at Yun. “It’s because the lad wants to talk to Zeno in private again, isn’t it?”

“That’s right,” said Yun. Zeno was too smart for his own good, and that was part of the problem he was hoping to address today.

“The lad’s always so full of questions!”

“Today it’s not a question,” said Yun. “Today it’s — well — it’s — just stop calling me ‘mother,’ all right?”

Zeno froze, then burst out laughing. “And here Zeno was thinking the lad was going to be all serious about Hiryuu’s time again!”

“Shut up,” Yun muttered.

“But Zeno’s not the only one,” Zeno added. “The others call the lad ‘mom’ too. So why the private talk?”

“Well …” Yun wasn’t quite sure how to phrase this. He glanced down, studying the narrow stream in their path, until he picked out a log that wouldn’t slip out from under his footsteps. Zeno simply leapt across. “With the others, sometimes I think they actually mean it. Which is weird, don’t get me wrong. It’s weird and I don’t like it! But when you say it, you’re _definitely_ making fun.”

“Ah,” said Zeno. “So it _is_ about that.” He paused as they continued walking. “Zeno’s not making fun, promise! It’s … how to say it. The lad just takes really good care of us, that’s all!”

“I know _that,_ ” said Yun. “You rare beasts wouldn’t last two days without me.”

“The lad’s a genius, after all!”

“Right! But that’s not what a mother is! That’s not even what an _adult_ is. I took care of Ik-su all the time, even when I first met him, but still, _he_ was the one who … I don’t want everyone to think that I have it all together.” That was it. That was the real issue. Maybe it _was_ about the others, as much as it was about Zeno. “When I first met Yona, I thought I knew everything about the world. Sure, there were lots of places I hadn’t been and books I hadn’t read, but I thought I knew everything I needed to know about Yona, about people like her. And in just two weeks I changed my mind! I was really clueless. So yeah. I’m a genius about some things, but I’d be an idiot if I didn’t admit how much I _don’t_ know. And if everyone looks to me, then someday I’ll mess up, and then …” The trees were thinning as they approached the road that led out of the nearby village and through the woods, the damp coolness of the forest replaced by warm sunlight.

“But that’s a pretty grown-up thing to say, you know,” said Zeno.

“Don’t — you’re not helping.” Yun hadn’t actually meant to say that much. It had just kind of … spilled out.

“Probably, the lad will never feel like a real grown-up,” said Zeno. “Zeno never met anyone who did. Zeno still doesn’t!”

“Yes, but you’re …” _Eternally seventeen,_ he was going to say, but also two thousand years old. “… really?”

“Yup!”

“… it might help if you acted more like an adult.”

“Like the lad does?” Zeno asked, pointedly. And … fair enough. Yun knew _that_ didn’t work. “Listen,” said Zeno. “When the lad takes care of us, is _that_ pretending?”

“Well … no …” Taking care of the group was how he was a _part_ of the group. It was something he did for Yona, for everyone, because of what they meant to him. Everyone had something they could do, and this was what _he_ could do, that was all. Even if he sometimes had to put on a bit of an act to get the others to listen … the care itself, that wasn’t an act.

“And when the lad changed his mind about what kind of person the miss was?”

“How would _that_ be an act?”

Zeno hesitated. They had almost reached the village, but he slowed his pace, and Yun turned back, facing him. “You know, Zeno was watching the miss since she left the castle … but I didn’t decide I’d join her till a lot later.” Yun’s eyes widened. Zeno had said that he was testing Yona. Not that he’d thought she wasn’t— “Zeno can stop saying ‘mother’ if the lad doesn’t like it. It’s true, Zeno never thought the lad was grown up. But the lad isn’t grown up because the lad is fifteen! Not because of mistakes, or being wrong about things, or not understanding people. Because if it’s about stuff like that … maybe no one ever gets there, but Zeno thinks the lad is doing a really good job of _growing_ up.”


	12. Letting Go

Zeno is holding her hand when she dies, and it’s nice, it’s so nice.

It’s when she finds herself looking down on the two of them, looking down on herself, that it occurs to Kaya that she is dead. She promised she would wait for Zeno in heaven, but she’s still here, watching, because—she can still feel Zeno holding her hand. It’s the only thing she can feel. He’s still holding her hand when the sun rises and _it’s sweet of you, Zeno, but you knew this was going to happen. We both did. It’s time to move on! Kaya will be waiting for you in the heavens, remember?_

The passage of time doesn’t affect her so much, doesn’t mean anything to a spirit, so it’s not until something like a week has passed that Kaya thinks that this is _wrong._ Zeno hasn’t had anything to eat or drink in all this time, hasn’t even moved, and he’s still holding her hand, still holding her here. _Zeno, if you don’t eat anything, you’ll die,_ she tries to tell him, just like she did on the day they met, and she remembers what he said to her then: _I want to die._

It takes a little longer before she’s sure of it: Zeno won’t ever follow her to heaven.

_Zeno, please let go!_ If he does, she’ll lose him forever. Kaya knows this now. She’ll pass on to heaven and Zeno will … stay here, always. Kaya doesn’t want to go on alone. But she remembers the way he moved, the way he danced with her, how full of energy and life Zeno could be. Now, Zeno hasn’t moved in months. And Kaya, too … Zeno doesn’t know she’s still here, can’t see her spirit. The hand that he’s holding— _don’t remember Kaya this way. Please, Zeno! Let me go!_

“I’m sorry you had to find out like this.”

“Aaah!” There’s a ghost in the room with them. Wait, being scared is silly. Kaya is a ghost, too. She’s been a ghost for maybe almost a year. The new one is an old-man-ghost, and he’s watching Zeno with kind, sad eyes. Kaya thinks he looks like the kind of old man who should be everyone’s grandpa. “Are you … family?” Kaya asks.

“He’s my little brother.” For an instant, there’s a flicker, the image of the old-man-ghost fading back into someone younger. Maybe this is how Zeno knew him.

“So Zeno really … won’t die, ever.” The other ghost doesn’t answer her. “I don’t … I don’t want to leave,” Kaya confesses. She wants Zeno to let her go but she doesn’t want to leave him.

“It’s not good for him to keep you here. Not for either of you. The gods never meant to bar you from the heavens, so they finally let me come.” He turns back to Zeno. “I’m sorry,” he says. “But you can’t take care of her anymore. Don’t worry. Shuten, Abi, and I will watch out for our little sister.”

“Little … sister?”

The ghost smiles at her. “He married you, right?” He reaches out, takes both Kaya and Zeno’s hands in his own. And Kaya sees the frail hand of an old man, but she feels scales, claws, and a firm, strong grasp. The same way that she feels Zeno’s touch soft against her skin despite the fact that her hand has long since decayed to dry bone. And then, suddenly, that soft touch vanishes. Zeno is still holding Kaya’s hand but he’s not holding _Kaya_.

It’s time to go.

“I wish he could see me,” Kaya whispers. She can tell the other ghost wishes it, too.

“You said goodbye,” says the ghost. “He’ll remember that.”

Slowly, the two spirits begin to fade away, and the last thing Kaya sees before she leaves the world is Zeno, letting go.


	13. Games of Strategy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Trolling runs in the family, and Soo-won's mother is no one's fake gamer girl.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> for a prompt from @abrownfeminist on tumblr

“But why did you invite him to dinner? Isn’t he our enemy?” The entire household of Lord Yu-hon, Sky Tribe general and governor of Kouka Kingdom’s Kin Province, had spent the day preparing to receive the Kai Empire’s Lord Jun Taigam, and Soo-won couldn’t understand why. “You said you were going to crush him on the battlefield!”

“And I did just that,” said Yu-hon. “He surrendered like a gentleman.” Soo-won frowned. Just because someone surrendered, it didn’t mean they weren’t an enemy anymore, he knew that much. “Diplomacy is a battlefield of its own,” Yu-hon continued. “Pay attention tonight, and you’ll learn something.”

“Will you crush him on this battlefield too, Father?” Soo-won asked. To that, Yu-hon just smiled.

At dinners like this, Soo-won knew he had to keep quiet and let the adults talk. He didn’t mind this. It seemed like whenever he asked adults (well, adults who weren’t his parents) questions directly, they always gave him silly answers, but if he just listened, he could learn a lot more. It did bother him a little bit when Lord Taigam asked Father how old Soo-won was (“he’ll be eight next month”), instead of asking Soo-won himself, but that happened a lot, too. What bothered Soo-won more was when Taigam did the same sort of thing to Mother.

“General,” he said. “I have always wondered. Why do you insist on taking your wife along with you on your campaigns? Surely it’s reckless—she’s only given you one son, after all!”

Soo-won smiled to himself. Now Father would tell this man off for being so rude about Mother—talking like she wasn’t even here and couldn’t think for herself. But to Soo-won’s surprise, Yu-hon just gave a little shrug. “Perhaps it is more sentimental than wise,” he said. “But you needn’t be concerned for Lady Yong-hi’s safety,” he added, narrowing his eyes. “I’ll kill any man who tries to harm her.”

“Of—of course,” Taigam backtracked. “I didn’t mean to imply—”

Soo-won was confused. Father had said that diplomacy was a battlefield, but now this lord thought that Father was foolish _and_ that Mother was useless. How was that a victory? He glanced sideways at Yong-hi, expecting to see her outraged as well. Instead, she calmly met his gaze, giving him a slight smile. And Soo-won knew that look—Mother was planning something.

Soo-won waited patiently through the rest of the dinner. As the evening drew to a close, Lord Taigam glanced across the hall, then asked something he’d clearly wanted to bring up all night. “Pardon me,” he said. “But I see you play shougi. I wonder if the great general might indulge me with a game?” The game board was displayed prominently at a small table on the other side of the room, even though Soo-won almost never saw anyone play _here_.

“You’ll have to excuse me,” said Yu-hon. “I have other business to take care of. But perhaps, instead, you’ll play a game with my wife? She does enjoy it, and I so rarely am able to give her the games she likes.”

This clearly was not what Lord Taigam had wanted, but he was the one who’d asked for a game in the first place, and refusing now would be incredibly rude. “—certainly,” he said, with a barely-concealed look of disappointment. He nodded towards Mother. “Lady Yong-hi.” They moved to the small gaming table. “So you play, too?” Taigam asked, as Yong-hi sat down across from him.

“It’s a hobby, I suppose,” said Yong-hi. Which, Soo-won supposed, wasn’t exactly incorrect. “I play against my lord husband when he can spare the time, and Soo-won is learning to play, too.” Neither of those things were false, either. “Soo-won, dear, would you like to watch us play?” That, of course, was a given, but Mother’s invitation meant that Soo-won could watch without being rude.

“Maybe someday you’ll be good enough to beat your dad, eh, kid?” Taigam asked, aiming a grin at Soo-won. Soo-won didn’t return the smile, or say what he wanted to say—that he’d won against Father _plenty_ of times. A victory against _Mother_ would be the one he’d really savor—and one that he could never imagine achieving.

Yu-hon left the room before the game began, but Soo-won thought he was probably close by. Father always had things to do if he wanted, but Soo-won knew he didn’t really have any urgent business tonight. And as for the game—Lord Taigam was not a bad player. Soo-won thought he was actually a very good player, and that if he’d been playing against Lord Yu-hon, he probably would have won. He was no match, however, for Lady Yong-hi.

As it became clear the game was nearing its close, Yu-hon walked quietly back into the room. “You see?” he asked, leaning down to whisper into Soo-won’s ear. “On this battlefield, too, surprise attacks are the most effective.”

Soo-won couldn’t keep the grin off his face as, to Lord Taigam’s obvious distress, Mother uttered that final “checkmate.”

“And that,” said Lord Yu-hon, looking down at his defeated enemy, “is why my lady wife accompanies me on my campaigns.”


	14. Chapter 14

_Snip, snip._ “There, Kija, you’re done!” Yun ran his comb one final time through Kija’s hair, and frowned. “Are you _sure_ I can’t cut this off?” he asked, holding up the solitary tail of long white hair. “It’ll make this go a lot faster next time …”

“No!” Kija stood up, indignant, pulling away from Yun.

“Fine, fine …” Yun had known what the answer would be, of course. “Well, you were the last one—go gather some firewood while Hak and Yona are out hunting, all right?” Kija nodded and turned towards the forest. With Jae-ha and Shin-ah out scouting the area to plan their trip for the next day, that would leave just Yun and Zeno in camp, and—

“Zeno’s turn!”

Yun looked back down and blinked in surprise. The yellow dragon had taken Kija’s place, sitting on the fallen log that had seemed the perfect spot for giving everyone in the group a long-overdue haircut, but Zeno had never asked Yun to trim his hair before. “I don’t think your hair ever changes, either,” Yun muttered.

“But the birds are going to have such colorful nests! Zeno doesn’t want to be left out!” It was true, the ground was littered with hair of every shade, the bright red, green and blue bookended by Kija’s white and Hak’s black. If the local birds really did use the hair for nests, it would be quite a sight.

“Well, you certainly _look_ like you need a haircut,” Yun had to admit. He began working his comb through Zeno’s hair, starting at the bottom. “Your hair could be a bird’s nest by itself!”

“Cut it short like Seiryuu’s!”

Yun paused. “And if I do that, how long until it’s back to normal?”

“Heh, the lad catches on quick!” Yun rolled his eyes, even though Zeno wouldn’t be able to see it from where he was sitting. “A couple of days, at the most.”

“So it’s slower than—” Yun cut himself off. He couldn’t help being curious about Zeno’s powers—even though he never wanted to see them in action ever again—but he realized his curiosity might make Zeno uncomfortable.

“Right!” Well, _might,_ but didn’t seem to.

“I suppose you’re just going to keep on playing jokes like this … Jae-ha told me about your drinking game, you know!”

“Haha, but it was Ryokuryuu’s idea!”

“And don’t think I’ve forgotten that thing with the berries!”

“… huh?”

“You know—when you first joined us, and I asked you to help forage for food, and all the berries you brought back were poisonous?”

“Oh …” Zeno lowered his head. “To tell the truth, that wasn’t a joke. Zeno forgot.”

“… forgot.”

“Zeno was by himself for a long time. They taste really good, you know!”

“And what if I wasn’t there, huh? Yona grew up in a palace, do you think she’d know they were poisonous?” He ran the comb up against a tangle, pushing maybe just a little bit too hard.

“Zeno’s really sorry!”

Yun sighed, relenting. “Well, they wouldn’t have killed us. Just made us all really uncomfortable for a few hours … they really taste that good?”

“Really good! Like currants, but more orange …” And Yun considered it, seriously considered it, but in the end decided that figuring out exactly what was meant by “currants, but more orange” was not going to be worth the unpleasantness that followed.

“So it has to go that short to make a noticeable difference at all, huh?” Yun asked, turning the topic back to Zeno’s hair. He’d worked his comb most of the way through the lower half, and could now run his fingers through it with ease. The yellow dragon’s hair was surprisingly soft. “Um … can I take this off?” Zeno’s headband would get in the way of the rest of the work he needed to do, but—though Zeno had never said anything about his medallion—Yun knew it was important. He didn’t want to touch it without permission.

In response, Zeno reached up and untied the headband himself. “Yeah, Zeno’s hair is just like the rest of him. It can’t be changed for long.”

“So you really _are_ just making extra work for me.”

“It feels nice when the lad brushes it, though!”

Yun was abruptly glad the yellow dragon was facing away from him. He couldn’t keep up with all the repairs Zeno needed for his clothing. And he was completely unnecessary when it came to treating any injuries. He knew all that already, so it was stupid, _really stupid,_ to start to cry over the fact that he couldn’t even give his friend a proper haircut! “Hey,” he said, struggling to keep his voice steady. “I’ve been doing this all morning while you rare beasts all got to sit down, so I’m tired. Move down to the ground, and I’ll sit behind you.

“Okay!” Zeno stood up, but before he sat down again, he turned around and wrapped his arms around Yun in a hug.

“… what was that for?”

“The lad’s been working hard!”

“… right.” Yun sat down, cross-legged behind Zeno, and began working with the comb again. It wasn’t long before all the tangles were gone. “Zeno … I don’t think short hair’s a good look for you.” He ran his fingers through the yellow hair again, letting his fingers stop to trace patterns on Zeno’s scalp. Zeno reached up to take his hand, interlacing their fingers, leaning back against Yun. “Aa-aa, don’t put all your weight on me like—” Too late, as they both toppled over backwards. But Yun laughed as he stood up, brushing bits of multi-colored hair and old dead leaves off of his clothing. “Look, enough hair came out while I was brushing, the birds will have plenty.” Though … after getting Zeno’s hair to such a rare tidy state, it would be a shame to do nothing … “Say, Zeno, can I braid it, instead?”


	15. Red Star's Promise

“It’s not my birthday anymore, so please, let me see him!”

Granny frowned. “Lord Hakuryuu, even the day after your birthday isn’t a good time to see your father. You know that.”

“But—I didn’t ask for anything else!” And now, today, it was even more important that Kija see his father. Because there was something—something that he couldn’t explain to Granny. Something that—he didn’t know why, but he knew only his father had any chance of understanding.

Granny continued to frown, but sighed, relenting. “Come outside,” she said. “Your father will be brought to you.” The previous Hakuryuu had not been permitted to set foot in Kija’s house since the day Kija was born.

Kija didn’t care. If he could see his father today, it didn’t matter where it was.

* * *

His father didn’t look directly at him. Father never did. “Father,” Kija began, conscious of the numerous eyes of the village militia on them both. They pitied him for this, Kija knew—this wasn’t what it was supposed to be like, between the white dragon and his predecessor. Even at barely four years old, Kija knew that much. “Are you well?”

The previous Hakuryuu looked down, and gave a slight nod, not speaking.

“F-father … did you see that red star this morning?”

And for the first time that Kija could remember, his father looked him directly in the eyes. “You felt it, too?” _Felt, not saw._ Kija was right. His father _did_ understand.

“What does it mean, Father?”

“Kija—” His father broke off. Looked away again. Kija was abruptly aware of Granny’s tear-filled eyes on them both. “I knew from the start that our king would appear in your lifetime.”

“I—I know, Father.” It was a promise Kija had worn since birth.

“I never thought—” And he didn’t finish, but Kija _knew_. The red star meant what he’d hoped it meant. And Father—the previous Hakuryuu had once lost all hope, but—was Kija imagining it, or did his father feel, finally, at peace? _I wish I could bring you with me when I serve our king, Father, but … I know you’ll be gone by then._  But now, at least …

 _I never thought he would appear in mine._ Those words, left unsaid, were the best birthday present Kija could have ever hoped for.


	16. Gentleness

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Written for a 5-sentence fic prompt on tumblr from @kanafinwhy so yes, very short, but I wanted to put it here anyway. The prompt was "Seiryuu Ao (and baby Shin-ah if you like?), gentleness."

It was a stupid, selfish fear that drove the former Seiryuu to do this—to hide under cover of darkness, watching the villagers through the thin walls of their hut, memorizing each detail of how the young mother fed her baby, cleaned her baby, wrapped it tightly in cloth and put it to sleep. The idea that if he couldn’t keep this new Seiryuu alive he would be bound to his monstrous existence forever, never passing on the curse, never finding rest. On nights when the boy could not, _would_ not, sleep, and Seiryuu had to force himself to leave the baby alone while he ran through his katas, taking his frustration out on shrubs and small trees that were far, far less fragile than a baby—those nights proved what a monster he was, how unfit to parent anyone but a fellow monster. Proved that it was not any sort of care or concern—certainly not love—that made him want to learn to do better. And yet, after he returned, as he held the little dragon with large, rough hands that didn’t look a thing like those of that young mother, he lost track of that stupid, selfish fear entirely—lost track of it and found it replaced by something … warm.


	17. Like Kittens Playing Games

“Shin-ah, how about a spar?” Hak raised his blade in invitation as the blue dragon turned to face him. Their strange, quiet new companion had traveled with them for a week already, but last night had been the first time Hak had seen him use his blade, cycling through unfamiliar forms and katas under the light of the moon. Just like the white snake, Seiryuu was a formidable fighter—and while the source of Kija’s strength made sparring unfortunately impractical, perhaps he’d be able to test his skill against Shin-ah.

“You want … to fight?” the blue dragon asked in his soft voice. Hak nodded with a grin. He had a suspicion that if he used a sword, Shin-ah could take him easily, but with his glaive they might be on equal footing. But then, wordlessly, Shin-ah shook his head, turned, and ran away. _Well, so much for that. Strange kid_ … Hak sighed. Maybe another time.

The following day, Shin-ah was just as distant as he’d always been, and … was Hak imagining things, or did Shin-ah avoid him even more than he had before? _Dammit, what did I do wrong?_ Shin-ah hadn’t wanted to spar, but Hak had hardly been pushy about it … hadn’t pursued the matter … “Hey, Shin-ah,” he asked, over dinner that night. “Can you tell me what I did to upset you?” Yona, Yun, and Kija all shot him puzzled glances—maybe they hadn’t noticed anything different—but Shin-ah just shook his head.

“… nothing,” he said. “I’m … not upset with you.”

“Come on, Shin-ah, I can’t apologize if I don’t know—” But the blue dragon just stood up and turned away from the campfire, walking silently away from the group into the woods.

“Hak! You clearly _did_ —” Kija began.

“I know, I know!” Hak sighed. “Princess, can you go after him? He’ll talk to you … I think I said something to upset him last night, but I really have no clue—” Yona nodded and stood up to follow Shin-ah, leaving Hak sitting by the fireside, Kija glaring daggers at him.

“If you’ve made my brother feel unwelcome—”

“I didn’t mean to!” Hak protested. “He’s strange, and I don’t understand him, but … he kept the princess safe. That’s enough for me.”

Kija’s gaze softened. “Good,” he said. “I confess, I find myself unable to relate to him at times, as well …”

It wasn’t long before Yona returned, a puzzled frown on her face. “He said … Shin-ah said that he wasn’t your enemy. I don’t know what he’s talking about, do you?”

_His enemy?_ “Of course I’m not his enemy, why would he—” Oh. Suddenly, it all fell into place. Shin-ah had been so completely alone in his village, and hell, he’d even _said_ that all his practice fighting had come from taking on bandits. “Can you see if he’ll come back? I think I know what went wrong—I think I can explain.”

Yona brought Shin-ah back, and—Hak really did wish he could see under that mask, see what sort of reaction he was getting, but there was nothing he could do about that. “Shin-ah,” he began. “I don’t think you’re an enemy. When I said I wanted to fight you—do you know what sparring means?” Shin-ah paused, then shook his head. “It’s something friends do,” said Hak. “Friends who train together. To test their skills, to practice—” _To see who’s the strongest, too_ —but maybe the competitive aspect was best set aside for the moment. “I wasn’t going to actually hurt you.”

Shin-ah paused again. “You … couldn’t,” he said.

_Oho._ “That’s the spirit,” Hak said, with a grin. “Just like that. A challenge between friends. Heh, I wouldn’t _want_ you for an enemy,” he added.

“… friends,” Shin-ah repeated. His face remained expressionless, but Hak thought he sounded more content. Happy, even.

“Yeah,” said Hak. “Friends.”


	18. New in Town

Zeno had done this many, many times before. He didn’t think it had gotten any easier. In some ways, being alone was better—if he had no one, then he had no one to leave behind, after all. But he couldn’t help himself. He liked people too much, and he couldn’t stay away forever. In some ways, coming to a new village was worse than leaving. Leaving was inevitable, it would happen whether he chose it or not. Showing up … was something he had to _choose,_ even knowing the inevitable outcome.

For the past two nights, Zeno had sat on the side of a rocky hill overlooking a small village—one he’d never been to at all, a rarity these days. The little town was lit up by festival lights as well as the bright light of the almost-full moon, and the cool night breeze carried the cheerful sounds of celebration up to Zeno’s ears. It looked so fun, so fun! Everyone down there was a stranger, but they didn’t have to be. Zeno could walk down there, could join in the laughter and the fun … could make friends with smiling children who would all too soon have children, grandchildren of their own.

For the villagers, that place would always be home. For Zeno, that was impossible.

“Hey, kid! You waiting for someone?”

Startled by the voice, Zeno turned his gaze from the village far below to the little road that wound its way up the hillside. A man and a boy were approaching, walking beside a small horse-drawn wagon.

“Ah, no! Zeno’s just watching the pretty lights!”

“Saw you here last night, too … kid, if you’re looking for somewhere to stay, there’s a good inn down in the village.”

“No, no … Zeno’s just passing through …”

“He probably can’t afford it, Dad, look at his clothes …” The boy finally spoke up, in what was clearly meant to be a whisper. Zeno glanced down at what he was wearing, and the boy lifted a hand to cover his mouth as he realized his words had been heard. His father shot him a look. It was true, though … sleeping under trees for years—decades?—had done a number on Zeno’s clothing.

“That’s not it! It’s just … Zeno doesn’t know anyone here, and you should all enjoy your festival without taking care of strangers …”

“Kid, what do you think a festival is _for?_ ” The man paused, frowning to himself. “Say, my boy and I, we’re heading back tomorrow morning with another wagonload of wine—if you help us load and unload, you’re welcome to spend the night at our place.” Zeno, of course, hardly _needed_ a roof over his head at night, but— “Tomorrow’s the last day of the spring festival—maybe it’s just a simple small-town affair for a traveler like you, but if you’re here already, you shouldn’t miss out.”

This man didn’t know Zeno at all, and already he was so friendly, so helpful! This … this was why Zeno knew he’d never stay on his own forever. Still, he was hesitant to give an answer right away. “… wine, huh?” he asked. “Mister has a vineyard?” He’d seen a lot of them in the hills around this region.

“Just a small one,” the man began, but his son cut him off.

“Everyone says that Father’s wine is the best in the whole Earth Tribe!” Zeno chucked to himself. Times sure did change—back in Hiryuu’s day, wine made from grapes was a strange, outlandish curiosity. He wondered what Shuten would think. “Tomorrow night, father says we can stay later, too—there’ll be fireworks!”

Zeno blinked at that, too, genuinely startled. Fireworks, at a small village festival? Times really _did_ change …

“I just don’t like seeing someone your age on his own like this,” the man added. “You can’t be all that much older than my boy here …” Hah. But truth be told, Zeno had known what would happen the moment the man approached him. It had happened this way too many times before. Their kindness, their willingness to share … Zeno wanted to get to know people like this. Wanted to return that kindness. It was what had made Hiryuu fall in love with humanity, and Zeno couldn’t help but smile when he thought of Hiryuu’s dream living on in Kouka’s citizens, centuries later.

He would have to leave. Zeno always had to leave. But until then—the world and its people were full of bright, shining happiness, and Zeno would gladly share in as much of that as he could.


	19. Chapter 19

“Hak! Suwon! Follow me!” Yona took off running without checking to see if her friends were following. She knew they would.

“Where are you going, Yo— Princess?” Now that Father was king, Hak didn’t call Yona by her name anymore. Yona liked being called princess, but she sometimes missed the sound of her name … she missed her mother calling her name. Suwon still called her Yona, at least. “What’s so interesting inside the castle?”

“We-ell … it’s not _interesting_ … but it’s exciting! Since I’m the princess now, the people in the kitchen give me sweets whenever I ask! Come on!”

“I’m glad you’re in good spirits today,” said Suwon. “Last week you weren’t eating at all.”

“Right,” said Yona. Sometimes it was hard to remember to eat, when she was sad. “But when you gave me your food, I could tell you were still hungry, so I went to the kitchen to ask for something to give back to you, because I don’t want you to be hungry, either. I was going to explain why I needed it, but that’s when I found out! They just gave me food!”

“Now you’re going to get fat for sure,” said Hak.

“Hey!” Why did he have to be so mean? But Hak had always teased her—that was something that hadn’t changed, so she didn’t really mind. “I won’t give you any cake!” That was a lie, though. The banana cakes she’d had last week were so delicious, she definitely wanted both her friends to try them.

Hak had distracted her, though, and as Yona rounded the last corner and raced into the kitchen, she found herself colliding with another person. They both fell to the floor with a thump. “Oops! I’m sorry …” Yona stood back up, straightening her dress, then looked back at the person she’d run into. Everyone in the kitchen had been so nice before—she hoped she hadn’t hurt one of her new friends. “Oh! You’re new!” She’d definitely have remembered someone with hair that yellow.

The man was still on the floor, and was looking up at Yona like he was really surprised to see her. “Princess!” he said. “Are you okay?”

Yona giggled. “You’re the one still on the floor, silly,” she said. “I’m fine, how about you?”

The yellow-haired man stood up. “Zeno’s fine, miss.”

By this point, Hak and Suwon had caught up with her. Yona hoped they hadn’t seen what had happened … but of course they had. “Sorry about that, mister,” Hak said with a nod. “The princess is really clumsy.”

“I am not!” Yona protested, stamping her foot. “You’re not getting any cake, and I really mean it this time!” Something occurred to her, and she looked back at the yellow-haired man. “We were coming to the kitchen to get sweets,” she said. “But if you’re mad at me for knocking you down, we can go …”

“Is this one of the friends you made last week?” Suwon asked.

Yona shook her head. “I thought I met everyone here,” she said. “Are you new?” she asked the yellow-haired man.

He smiled. “Yup! Zeno wanted to work in the palace for a while, and Zeno loves food, so the kitchen was perfect! Oh, and Zeno’s not mad,” he added. “Zeno’s happy you came.”

“If I needed a job, I’d work somewhere there was cake, too,” Yona agreed. Oh, but last week, they’d said—

“And if it’s sweets you came for, we’ve got lots! What would the princess like?”

“Three—no, four—banana cakes, please,” she said. She handed two of the little desserts to Hak and Suwon, then handed one back to the yellow-haired man. “Last week they told me that working in the kitchen didn’t mean you could eat as much food as you wanted. They said it was against the rules. But if I give it to you, it’s fine, right?”

He blinked at her, then, almost hesitantly, took the cake back. “R-right!” Then his smile broadened. “Thank you, miss!”

“I’m sorry for bumping into you,” Yona said. “But it was nice to meet you! I’ll see you next time!”

But in all her visits to the palace kitchens, Yona never saw the yellow-haired man again.


	20. Birthday Sweets

“That looks delicious.” Jae-ha reached out to take the wooden spoon that rested in Yun’s pot of simmering sticky rice pudding, stained a deep purple by the juice of the berries that floated on the surface.

Yun slapped his hand away. “Not unless you want to die,” he said. He was accustomed to defending his cooking—especially desserts—from hungry rare beasts. Jae-ha would just have to deal. “This is Zeno’s birthday dessert,” he said. “And it’s not finished yet, anyway.”

“I suppose I can wait…”

“You don’t have a choice,” said Yun. “So why don’t you go help Kija wash up the dishes from dinner?” Jae-ha would inevitably be disappointed no matter what, and in the meantime, Yun certainly didn’t need him watching over his shoulder.

Finally, it was ready. Yun spooned a serving into a bowl for Zeno as the group gathered around. “We were all threatened with death if we tried any before you did, Zeno,” said Hak. “So take a bite.” But no one needed to tell the yellow dragon to eat. Zeno took a big mouthful—then his eyes widened and he burst out laughing.

Yun flushed bright red. Maybe it had been a stupid idea. “Zeno! Don’t make fun of Mother’s cooking,” Kija demanded.

“I’m not your mother!” Oh, it wasn’t even worth it anymore.

“Well,” Kija continued, “can the rest of us try some now?”

“You could,” Zeno contained his laughter long enough to speak. “But the berries would probably kill you!”

“… they’re poisonous?”

“Yep!” Zeno said, wearing a huge grin. He took another spoonful.

Okay, maybe it hadn’t been an entirely stupid idea. Everyone else was staring at him, though, and Yun felt the need to explain himself. “You like them, though, right?” he asked Zeno. “I saw you eating them all the time back in the Water Tribe.” These particular poisonous berries weren’t so common here, and it had taken Yun the better part of the afternoon to pick enough.

“They’re delicious!” Zeno agreed. “Oh, but Zeno’s only had them fresh before! This is new!”

“Right! I thought, you’ve probably had a chance to sample every cuisine in the world, so if I wanted to make you something special for your birthday, it should be something that no one else would ever cook. You—you like it?” Zeno nodded, and this time, it was Yun who grinned. “Okay, but since I can’t taste it, you have to tell me—how is it, really? Too sweet? Too tart? How’s the texture?”

“It’s perfect!” Zeno said, which was no help at all.

“It feels like it ought to be wrong,” said Hak. “Poisoning someone on their birthday.”

“You’re looking at it wrong,” Yun countered. “I just thought it would be cool, being able to taste something no one else ever could.” He turned back to face Zeno again, about to ask him more questions about the flavor, then stopped when he saw Zeno’s expression. The wide grin had left his face, replaced by surprised, wide eyes. “… what?”

“No one’s ever said Zeno’s powers were cool before,” said Zeno.

Oh. Well … yeah. Of course no one would say that. “… I don’t like seeing you get hurt,” Yun said. “But—being able to experience things that no one else can experience _is_ cool. Seeing so much of history, well, I think that’s pretty cool, too. And … being able to protect the people you care about is definitely a cool thing.”

A pause. Then— “The lad thinks Zeno’s powers are cool!” Zeno’s grin was back again.

“Just—you’re not allowed to use that as an excuse the next time you mess up your clothes!”

“Okay! Oh, but if the lad wants to hear something cool, Zeno has lots of stories!” Yun sighed. He was almost certainly going to regret this. “There was the time that Zeno went swimming in a volcano …”

Yep. What a pain.


	21. Hidden Flower

Ayura watches as the tailor rolls up the final bolt of fabric and places it back on the shelf, then glances expectantly at Tetora.

“Oho, you’re not done yet!” Tetora says with a smile. “Which one do you like best?”

Ayura frowns. “I have no skill for fashion. You were to pick something out for me.”

“When you say it like that, it’s not romantic at all!”

Frankly, Ayura doesn’t quite see the point of this shopping trip. The general has asked them to attend the martial arts tournament at Hiryuu Castle, and yes, they’ll need to look respectable. But inconspicuous, too. It’s hardly the occasion to have a new kimono made–but if Tetora wants to pamper her, how can Ayura resist?

“Surely you have some preference,” says Tetora. “Narrow it down for me, won’t you?”

Suddenly she’s embarrassed. She does have a preference, but what if it’s wrong?  _Stop being ridiculous,_ she chides herself. “Something dark,” she says.

“Of course,” Tetora murmurs. She brushes a delicate, yet strong, hand along the bolts of cloth, pausing at the blacks, the grays, the blues. Finally she stops, tapping her fingers on the soft silk in satisfaction. “This one, I think,” she says. The tailor pulls the bolt off the shelf, unrolls it, drapes the midnight blue fabric across Ayura’s body as she watches her reflection in the mirror. The silk is sprayed with a pattern of pale cherry blossoms, a delicate print she would never have been brave enough to choose for herself. Ayura has always favored solid fabrics, or at most, simple geometric patterns. Delicate flowers don’t suit her, she’d always thought–but they do. Tetora has made her beautiful. As she envisions the final garment that the fabric will become, she sees not a swordswoman-for-hire but an elegant court lady.

“It will do,” she says.

“You’ll catch the eyes of all the young men at the tournament, for sure!” says Tetora.

Normally, Ayura would roll her eyes at this sort of comment from Tetora, but her new look has made her bold. “Shall I make you jealous?” she asks, twirling a finger through a curl of Tetora’s hair. Tetora’s eyes widen, and a hint of a smile crosses Ayura’s lips. She’s already caught the eye of the only one who matters.


	22. Ridiculous Prompt #1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I asked for ridiculous fic prompts and @tensaiwaterhime said "lili sees keishuk feeding the horses and whispering cute things and being gentle and kind and thinks he's the stable person"

Lili’s official audience with the king was finished, and it was time to go home. Ayura and Tetora were supposed to meet her by the royal stables, where their horses were being cared for, but they were nowhere to be seen. They sure were taking their time doing … whatever they were doing.

Lili wandered into the stables while she waited. Even though it was the middle of the day, the place wasn’t empty. A tall man with long, dark hair was brushing the forehead of a pale stallion, murmuring softly as he did so. “Yes, yes, I know, you poor thing,” he said. “His Majesty works you so hard, always riding off without telling anyone where he’s going. He doesn’t appreciate how strong and handsome and brave you are. But look! What’s this? I brought you an apple, your favorite!”

Lili smiled. Some guys who worked with horses were just doing their job but she could tell this guy really cared. She cleared her throat.

The man jumped in surprise and turned to face her, straightening his posture as he smoothed his robes. This guy was rather elegant for a stable hand, wasn’t he? Lili would have thought robes like that would get in the way. “Oh,” he said. “Those southern beauties must be yours.”

Lili knew that horses in the Water Tribe were bred for elegance and grace, but they were really all the same to her. Still, hearing this guy praise them made her smile. “Yes, so could you go get them for us?” she asked.

“Miss, I’m not actually—”

Had Lili made a mistake? Yes, those robes were definitely too nice for a stable hand. Suddenly, she realized what the explanation must be. “Oh!” she said. “Does the king trade outfits with you when he goes to visit the slums in disguise?”

The man blinked  Twitched. “When he what.”


	23. Ridiculous Prompt #2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I asked for ridiculous fic prompts and @nemurenaivoron said "a traveling circus earnestly asks Zeno to join them. Yun almost agrees to sell them all "rare beasts" for a good price."

“Bad news,” said Yun. “The circus is in town.”

“Yaay!” cheered Zeno, at the same time as Yona asked “why is that a bad thing?”

“Because they’re the real deal! We can’t keep pretending to be traveling entertainers–we’ll be found out for sure!”

“Not to worry, lad!” said Zeno. “Zero’s traveled around with a circus before. It’ll be all right!”

Sure enough, when some guys from the circus came by to check out the competition, they were impressed with Zeno’s juggling routine. Yun was impressed, too–previously, he’d only ever seen Zeno juggle three balls at a time, but tonight he did it with five, tossing and catching them in complex cascades and arcs.

“Say, kid, you’re really good,” said one of the circus people. “You should come perform with us! These guys obviously aren’t bringing in enough cash to support such a big group, and you’re the best of the bunch!”

Yun was about to object to that statement, until he realized he could turn this to their advantage.

“Absolutely not!” Kija refused on Zeno’s behalf. “The Four Dragons stick together!”

“Right!” said Yun. “It’s a package deal! You four rare beasts, go and perform with these guys for a while, and bring us back some money! I’m their agent,” he added. “I’ll take fifty percent up front! Jaeha can do acrobatics and trapeze stunts, Kija can be a strongman, Shinah can perform tricks with Ao, and Zeno can juggle!”

“Zeno can also juggle with knives!” the yellow dragon added.

“Right, he’s very good!”

“And Zeno can do more than juggle! Zeno can also do sword swallowing, and fire eating, and escape acts! Oh! And Zeno doesn’t mind being the target for knife throwers, or getting cut in half by magicians …”

“You know what,” said Yun. “Nevermind.”


	24. Ridiculous Prompt #3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I asked for ridiculous fic prompts and @LizzieVisitante said "kija can't handled how useless he is with household chores,finding food,&cooking so he runs off to become a cabbage farmer"

“… I don’t understand.” Apparently, the pale death-god of Yona’s companions was actually Hakuryuu, the white dragon of legend, himself. Tae-jun got that much. It was the next part that made no sense. “Why are you _here?_ ”

Hakuryuu looked over the freshly-plowed field that lay adjacent to Tae-jun’s own crop of iza seeds. “This is how I can best serve the princess,” he said.

“But … you’re Hakuryuu.” Anyone could plant a field of cabbages. For the legendary white dragon to be in a place like this—

“Princess Yona does not need my strength for her protection when she has Hak by her side,” said Hakuryuu, with a hint of regret in his voice. Tae-jun nodded. Now they were back on familiar ground. “Nor can I take care of her the way Yun does.” Tae-jun remembered the young boy who had healed the sick and yes, it was hard to imagine anyone else taking such good care of people. “I’m ill-suited to the rough life she leads, and have only ever been a hindrance to the Princess.”

“That sounds fake, but okay…”

“And so I asked myself, who does Princess Yona admire? Who can I strive to emulate, so I can help the people of this land the way she has set out to do? And then I remembered you, and how proud the princess was of what you’ve done for the land of Fire, and I thought, if I can do only a little of what Lord Tae-jun has done, then I will fulfill the wishes of all my ancestors.”

“Um,” said Tae-jun. “But you’re Hakuryuu.”

The white dragon frowned at the field before him. “Cabbages _will_ grow in a climate like this, won’t they?”

Tae-jun couldn’t remember. Then he couldn’t remember why it was important. And then, he woke up.

_What a strange dream._ As a child, Tae-jun had played at being the white dragon warrior. What did it mean to dream now that Hakuryuu, impossibly, sought to be like him? And furthermore, why on earth had his subconscious mind decided that Princess Yona’s death-god friend was _Hakuryuu?_   Why, that would imply that Yona was … and that was just too ridiculous.

Cabbage farming, though, that was a good thought. He’d look into it.


	25. A Very Silly Fic in Which Hak Acquires Cat Ears

Hak stretched, slowly coming awake in the cool cave, wishing he could stay asleep just a little longer. “Are you finally awake, Thunder Beast? It’s not like you to sleep so late.” His ears twitched towards the sound of Yun’s voice coming from the cave entrance.

Wait. What the—?

He raised a hand to his head and found, nestled among his hair … cat ears? What on earth? As he registered their presence, he felt them flatten in concern. These Xing people had been strangely cat-obsessed from the start, but this was something else.

Whatever was going on, Yun would probably know what to do. He stood up and stepped outside the cave, to where the others sat around a morning campfire, eating breakfast. “You too, Thunder Beast?” Yun asked.

“Hak, I apologize,” said Voldo. “This happens whenever that guy calls people ‘nyan.’ It will wear off in a few days, and after that, you should be immune.”

Hak glanced around the group. Shin-ah, too, now had pointed cat ears, tufted with soft fur as blue as his hair. “What about Zeno?” Hak asked. He distinctly remembered hearing a “Zeno-nyan” from the Xingese warrior.

“Ah, Zeno recovers too quickly,” the yellow dragon said with sigh. “It’s too bad–Zeno wishes he could be that cute! But Zeno will settle for playing with Seiryuu-nyan.”

“I’m telling you, Voldopus, it’s not my doing!” said Algira. “I just happen to notice when people remind me of kitties!”

“What do you mean, not your doing?” Voldo demanded. “There’s a definite pattern here, admit it!”

“Oh, leave Algira alone, Voldo,” said Princess Tao. “Maybe there’s a pattern, but correlation isn’t causation, after all. Besides, aren’t Mister Hak and Mister Shin-ah cute?”

Hak refused to believe that cat ears made him _cute_. Yona was staring at him; he probably looked ridiculous.

“Say, Voldo, has anything similar ever happened when he calls you an octopus?” Jae-ha asked.

Voldo looked away. “I don’t want to talk about it.”

“Anyway, there’s nothing we can do about it, so have some breakfast,” said Yun.

“…right,” said Hak. “I suppose we’ll have to stay out of towns and villages for a few days, but—”

“Thunder Beast, you’ve been traveling with a group of rare beasts for months, and it’s only now that you say this?”

Yes, well—Hak sighed, spooned himself a bowlful of porridge, and sat down. As he ate, Yona stood up, approached him, and sat down again beside him, all the while still staring at his ears. “What is it, Princess?” he finally asked, setting his empty bowl aside.

“Can–can I touch them?”

“Thought you didn’t want me near you,” he muttered. He didn’t know which was worse–that, or the princess treating him like some strange curiosity.

Yona turned bright red. “That wasn’t–I didn’t mean it.”

Oh? “Well, I suppose, if you must” he said. She reached up, just barely brushing the soft fur with a gentle touch of her fingertips. “Ah—”

“Sorry! I’ll stop.”

“You–you don’t have to,” Hak said, as casually as possibly. The princess reached up to pet his ears again, fingers running down the soft fur to the base, gently scratching behind them as if he really were a cat—

It would be really weird to admit how good this felt.

Yona had to reach up awkwardly to reach the top of his head and so, for her sake, Hak shifted his position until his head rested in her lap. For her convenience. She continued to scratch behind his ears and brush his hair with her fingers, and Hak found himself almost falling asleep again, more comfortable than he could ever remember feeling, until—

“Oh? Why’d you stop?”

“Hak,” Yona said. “Hak, you're—” He lifted his head. Everyone else was staring at them, but Yona wore an amused smile. “Hak,” she said, giggling. “You’re _purring._ ” 


	26. Chapter 26

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "haunted prompts -- one last little light"

A single torch. That’s all the bandits have, but for Seiryuu—the former Seiryuu—it’s more than enough to see clearly. The bandits are merely human. To them, these catacombs must be an impenetrable blackness, of the sort that Seiryuu has never known. The bandits don’t even notice the sudden lack of moonlight as the great stone door is lowered. They don’t know they’ll die here.

It’s easy for Seiryuu—the former Seiryuu—to stay out of sight as he follows the cave to the far entrance. “They didn’t follow!” he calls. “Let me out!” The attack came suddenly. No one told the former Seiryuu anything besides _go! In there!_ But surely this must be the plan.

The door remains closed. If Seiryuu were not the former Seiryuu, he would be able to see past it. To see the villagers who must be there, waiting for him to save them. Can’t they hear him?

He waits and waits, but still they don’t come for him. If he were not the former Seiryuu, that one torch would not seem such a dim light…

He runs back, letting his mask fall from his face, and that one torch is more than enough to see every single heartbeat. Shadows shift as the torch falls to the ground.

“I killed them!” he shouts. “They’re all dead!” Can’t they hear him now?

The light…the light is fading. If he were not the former Seiryuu, he would need no light at all, but when that fallen torch burns out…

“They’re dead!” he calls out again. “It’s safe! Where–where are you?”

He can’t see.

He can’t see, and this is where they place the dead. If he were not the former Seiryuu—

He’s been dead since the moment that child was born.

He doesn’t know how long he waits, a spirit of darkness sustained by a memory of light. If he were not the former Seiryuu—if he were the current Seiryuu, the one they took with them—he would need no light, and yet he would _have_ it.

_No. It’s been too long for that._

If he were the current Seiryuu, the one they call _Shin-ah_ …he would have that light and more.


	27. Chapter 27

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "haunted prompts - in the walls"

Garou is jolted awake by a sudden shove and a jangle of chains.

“G-garou!” The younger dragon has retreated as far away from the wall as his chains will allow, and is staring at it, shaking.

“If you woke me up for a nightmare—”

“Garou, there's—” He points at the wall. “There’s something in there—a ghost, or—” He stands up and turns around, glaring defiantly down at Garou. “It wasn’t a nightmare! You can’t see it?”

“ _Right,_ the wall is haunted.” Pale light pours through the narrow window; it’s basically morning. Lucky for Jae-ha. And if the kid wants to imagine that the old stone wall is playing host to something worse than those heavy iron chains which, right now, neither one of them has the strength to break—

Well, Garou honestly can’t blame him.

“I can’t see it,” says Garou. “But I know what it is.” He rises from his own rough straw mat, takes a piece of stale bread from their lone basket. Savors it as best he can while Jae-ha watches. After he’s eaten his share he slides the basket to where the kid can reach it.

“W-what is it?” Jae-ha asks.

“When the villagers moved here, they brought that bastard with them. The one who got seen by the outside world eighty years ago. And when he died, they buried him here.”

“You … you couldn’t fit a body in there.”

He’s right. Even the thick stone wall, stronger on this side than the rest of the hut, isn’t _that_ thick. “They ground up his bones and turned them into mortar,” Garou says, grinning at the sudden look of terror that flashes across Jae-ha’s face. “So that in death, he can do his duty to make up for all the trouble he caused. That’s what they say.” Jae-ha’s eyes are wide, and he hasn’t touched his food. Garou considers taking it for himself, but honestly, that last crust of stale bread isn’t even worth it. He turns to leave. “Well, some people have to work for a living.” He doesn’t know what tasks the villagers will have for him today, and the pay is sure to be terrible. But he needs to eat. Jae-ha needs to eat.

“I can work! Take me with you!”

“That’s the most transparent escape attempt I’ve ever heard.”

“I won’t escape! I promise! Don’t leave me here with—with _that!_ ”

By now Garou half believes that Jae-ha really _did_ see some sort of spirit, but he just shakes his head. He knows better than to let the kid loose.

When he comes back with Jae-ha’s midday meal, the place is full of dust, and dirty tears stain Jae-ha’s face. “What—?” In answer, Jae-ha aims another kick at the wall. A few chips of stone fly loose, but they hardly make a dent. The boy bends down to massage his leg, and it’s clear he’s been doing this all morning. “You really think you have a better chance of breaking through that wall than through your chains? What would you do then, huh? You’re not going to get free that way!”

Jae-ha wipes his eyes with a dirty sleeve and slumps to the floor. “I know. I thought if I could break the wall, I could free _him._ ”

“Maybe he likes it here, did you think about that? Maybe keeping us prisoner is heaven for him.”

“No! Someone who tried so hard to escape would never—!”

“Get used to it, kid,” says Garou. “When the next Ryokuryuu comes to steal your life, that’ll be _you._ ”

“I’ll never!” Jae-ha protests, rising to his feet again. “I’ll never chain anyone down! I’ll never be like you!”

 _Do you really think I enjoy this? Do you really think this is the life I wanted?_ He lashes out with his own leg, redirecting the kick at the last second to hit the wall and not the boy. A single stone falls free, leaving a hole, too small even to slip a hand through.

“Garou …”

“ _You’re_ going to fix that, got it?”

“Garou, you did it!”

 _Oh, for—_ “I made it up, all right? Grinding bones into mortar– did you honestly believe they would go to so much trouble? For one of us?”

Jae-ha blinks at him. “But—”

“You think a weak kick like that could set anything free?” He might be stronger still than Jae-ha, but the tiny hole in the wall is only a reminder of how far he’s fallen.

“But it’s gone now,” Jae-ha insists. “It worked.”

Garou shivers. He knows what _he_ made up, but Jae-ha wouldn’t go through all this just to mess with him…he doesn’t think. “You had a nightmare,” he says. “There was no spirit.”

“Garou,” says Jae-ha, ignoring him. “If you can set a spirit free, then together, we can—”

He shoves the small dish he still holds toward the boy. Most of its meager offering has already fallen to the floor. “Ghosts don’t exist,” Garou says as he turns and walks away.


	28. Chapter 28

“Yona, come with me!”

Yona eagerly took Su-won’s hand and followed. He came to visit her at the castle all the time, but she had never been to his house before. What was he going to show her?

Su-won led her into a room that she first thought must be his—it was a bedroom, anyway. But no, it was too elegant, definitely a woman’s room. “This is my mother’s room,” Su-won said, confirming her guess. “Remember how you used to try on your mother’s jewelry and show me?” Yona instinctively reached up to touch one of her earrings. Those were the only thing that belonged to her mother that she still had. Everything else had been put away, because it made Father sad. “I wanted to let you dress up with my mother’s things, instead.”

“Ooh!” Yona didn’t know her aunt Yon-hi very well. She wasn’t as pretty as her own mother had been—no, it was mean to think things like that. But she didn’t have the sleek dark hair that Yona always wished for. Instead, her hair was the same light color as Su-won’s. That probably meant her accessories were completely different! “I want to see!”

“Here, take a look!”

Yona followed Su-won across the room. “Where is Aunt Yon-hi? Will she mind?”

“She won’t mind! I think she’s in the library right now.”

Su-won opened a wooden jewelry box. Inside there were earrings and hairpins, necklaces and brooches…but not nearly as many as Mother had owned. She lifted up a necklace, holding it up in front of the mirror. The green jade beads were a pretty color, even if it was kind of plain.

“Here, Yona!” Soo-won draped a silk scarf over Yona’s shoulders, letting the soft lavender fabric float gently down.

Yona laughed as the fabric tickled her skin, then looked back down at the sparse contents of Aunt Yon-hi’s jewelry box, frowning. “Su-won…doesn’t Uncle Yu-hon ever buy your mother presents?” She felt bad about asking a question like that. Uncle Yu-hon was a national hero, even if he was kind of scary.

“What? Oh! He does, all the time! He only got her jewelry once, though.”

“Oh.” She dropped the necklace back in the box. “You know, Su-won, if I want to look pretty, I do have my own jewelry!”

“…yes?”

“Mother’s stuff…it was special to her. Can…can I see something that’s really special to your mother?”

Su-won reached forward to snap the jewelry box shut. “Books,” he said, taking her hand. “That’s the kind of gift Father gives to Mother. I’ll show you the library.”

“I don’t—”

“You don’t know how to read yet, right?” Yona shook her head. She had wanted to see Aunt Yon-hi’s special things, but now she wouldn’t be able to. But Su-won smiled. “Maybe Mother can start teaching you!”


	29. Only Happy Memories

“Zeno’s late today.”

No hint of scolding tinged Kaya’s words. In fact, she smiled. The moment Zeno stepped through the door, illuminating the candle-lit hut with his own personal sunshine, she realized something: his delay had caused her no panic, not even a hint of worry. In the early days, she’d feared every day that Zeno would finally come to his senses and leave for good. But somewhere along the way he’d become more than a houseguest.

She rose to greet him, then faltered as her vision swam and dizziness overtook her. Zeno was by her side in an instant, steadying her almost before his basket crashed to the floor, holding her arm, lowering her back into bed, and breathing with her until her breaths came even again. “Sorry, Zeno, I made you drop—”

“No, no, Zeno’s sorry to make Kaya wait!” He didn’t let her finish. “But there was extra work to do in the village. Everyone’s getting ready for the New Year’s festival!”

“I know!” Kaya announced proudly. “Kaya spent all day making New Year’s cookies!” As much of the day as she’s been able to stand, at least–and despite her spell just now, it had been a good day.

“And Zeno brought home a basket full of New Year’s cakes!” He glanced down at the basket on the floor. Colorful paper wrappings protected the overturned contents. “See? Nothing lost!”

“Yay!” The happy exclamation became a cough, and Zeno quickly fetched her a glass of water. “I missed the new year, last year,” she admitted after taking a few short sips. “When Kaya was alone…I lost too many days. But since Zeno’s here, I haven’t missed a single one!”

Zeno hesitated. Kaya wasn’t sure, but she thought…well, she knew Zeno had been on his own for a long time. “Zeno wasn’t even sure what year it was,” he finally confessed. “Not until they started painting decorations in the village. But Zeno will remember every day with Kaya.” On impulse, Kaya reached up and wrapped her arms around him, pulling him toppling onto the bed beside her. Bright, sunny Zeno should not speak as if life were so dim and gray.

“I can’t go to the festival, but you should go have fun! You enjoyed helping set up, right?”

“No, no, we have our sweets, and we’ll have fun here! I won’t let Kaya spend another New Year alone. Zeno paid careful attention to all the preparations, so Kaya can have her own festival right here at home!”

“In that case…there’s a place on the hillside looking down over the valley, where we can watch them fly the festival kites. Since kites are far away in the sky no matter what, it’s almost as good as being there!”

Zeno smiled. “It sounds fun!”

But next morning, as sunlight streamed through the window, Zeno was nowhere to be seen. Had he changed his mind, gone to the village after all? If that was the case, he should have told her…but she didn’t want to begrudge him a happy day. She pulled down her coat from its hook by the door–it was still winter, after all–and set out on her own to the hillside to watch the festival below.

“Kaya! There you are!” Zeno reflected the morning light like a second sunrise as he crested the hillside.

“You came back!”

“Of course Zeno came back! I went into the village to get these!” Proudly, he held up two paper kites, bright red and white. “Zeno didn’t think about it yesterday, but when Kaya talked about it, Zeno remembered how much fun flying kites used to be. I meant to hurry back before you woke up, but my boss caught sight of me and gave me this.” He hefted a basket in his other hand. “Zeno didn’t want to spill!”

Kaya laughed. “More sweets?”

“No, soup and fish!”

“Ooooh!”

“Hey, Zeno…” Kaya began, as they lay on the ground side by side, kitestrings in hand, watching the sky above. “You said you remembered how much fun it used to be.”

“Ah, but not like this! We could never relax. Zeno had a friend who cheated at kite flying!”

Kaya giggled. “How do you cheat at kite flying?”

“Why, by jumping up and pulling them out of the sky, of course!”

This time, Kaya laughed out loud at the impossible image. “I hope you scolded him! That’s very rude!”

“Not me, but he got his dues. If someone is careful, and has good aim, they can hit a moving target with a kite, you know.”

“Zeno…” Kaya stretched out her fingers, brushing against Zeno’s. “That was a happy memory, wasn’t it? I used to think you only had sad ones.”

The string slipped from Zeno’s fingers and the wind twirled the red kite away into the empty sky above. “Zeno…used to think that, too.”

A moment of silence passed, then Kaya pressed her hand into Zeno’s, raising them together towards the sky, one solitary kite between the two of them. Zeno held her as if she too would fly away, just as fragile and lonely as that bit of paper and string. It was true, she knew, but not today. Today, she would hold on tight. “Let’s only make happy memories this year,” said Kaya. “Let’s make that our New Year’s promise. For both of us.”

They lay like that until the morning breeze died down and the kite slowly drifted to the ground. Then, tentatively, Kaya inched closer to Zeno, pressing her body against his. She shied away from this at night, but out here, in the cool clean air, she really could believe that he wouldn’t get sick. This morning everything was fresh, and new, and pure. Then— “Oh!” she exclaimed, sitting up abruptly only a moment later. “We forgot the soup! It must be cold by now!”

“We still have the cookies and the cakes!” Zeno laughed. “That’s one,” he said, sitting upright as well.

“Hm?”

“One happy memory. Zeno will treasure this morning forever.”


	30. Small Protections

_Kouren knows it’s a nightmare. Knows what’s coming. But she still doesn’t understand the dread in her heart as she looks down over the castle walls, waiting to reunite with her friend and protector, waiting to see his face—_

_As he’s ripped from her side, he doesn’t know what’s coming but Kouren does, and she can’t save him, can’t even call out as that man raises his sword—_

_This isn’t how it happened. Kouren wasn’t there. She never saw General Yu-hon’s grinning demon face, never saw her friend, either, not until—_

_His smiling face looks up at her with empty eyes as his severed head lies before her in a pool of blood on the dusty ground, as that Koukan monster tosses the head of one dead soldier after another over the walls until they form a mountain cascading down over Kouren where she stands, burying her, covering her in sticky, soft—_

_This isn’t how the nightmare goes—_

_Fluffy—_

_Wait, what?—_

Kouren opened her eyes. _Cats._ She was surrounded by cats. As she slowly sat up, rubbing her eyes, her little sister Tao rushed into the room with another kitten held beneath each arm. At the sight of Kouren awake, the nine-year-old girl leapt forward onto the bed and into her big sister’s arms. “Sister! You woke up!” Tao pulled away from the embrace, moving to sit cross-legged at the foot of the bed. “You were having your nightmare, weren’t you? I couldn’t wake you, but I thought, maybe the kitties would help?”

A thin paper screen was all that separated the two princesses’ chambers. This was not the first time Tao, thinking her sister to be in real distress, had tried to wake her from her dream, but it was the first time she’d tried this strategy. The cats, Kouren supposed, had at least cut the dream short. That was something.

“Petting kitties always makes me feel better,” Tao added hopefully.

Poor Tao really was trying her best, wasn’t she? She didn’t deserve to see her big sister scared and afraid. Kouren reached out to stroke the cat closest to her. Snowball? She could never keep their names straight. “Thank you, Tao,” she said.

“Sister…it was good news that we heard from Kouka today. You don’t have to be scared anymore!”

“This was just a dream.” Tao was right. The news that Il, not Yu-hon, would become Kouka’s next king should have been—was—a source of comfort. But dreams were tricky little things. They could take fears she should have defeated long, long ago, could shove them in front of her in the one place she couldn’t escape. “You’re absolutely right. There’s nothing to be afraid of. Now, please take these cats back to your room. Both of us need sleep.”

“You can keep them with you! But just for tonight.”

“Tao.” Kouren placed a hand on Tao’s shoulder. “It’s my job to protect you. Not the other way around.”

The Crown Princess of Xing was strong. Everyone said so—the advisors who had once criticized the king’s decision to name his daughter his heir now lauded her as Xing’s new hope; the Five Stars all praised her strength for all that she was self-taught. Tao was the only one who saw anything else. But the younger princess couldn’t even remember the war. She didn’t understand what she was trying to protect her big sister from. And if she saw an enemy that could be driven away by the simple comfort of fluffy felines…well then, Kouren supposed she had succeeded.

She sighed. “If it makes you feel better, Snowball can stay.”

“Snow _flake_.” But the stern note of correction in the nine-year-old’s voice couldn’t hide the relief on Tao’s face.

“Snowflake, then.”

Kouren’s fears might still haunt her, but they would haunt only her. Her little sister was safe.


	31. Chapter 31

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> tumblr prompt "why are you whispering?" with Jaeha and Gigan, from @kanafinwhy

“Jae-ha, what are you doing in my cabin?” The newest member of Gigan’s crew, only thirteen years old, sat on the wooden floor, his back against the far wall, watching the door warily.

“Shh, Captain, close the door!”

Gigan sighed, about to tell the brat to get up and get back to work, but thought better of it. There was nothing to worry about here, but the kid had some…unfortunately good reasons to be nervous. “What’s the matter? Why are you whispering?”

“That new guy, he’s a spy!” Jae-ha hissed. “I think he’s looking for me!”

Gigan pulled her shawl off of her shoulders. “You’d better hide that hair, then. Now,” she continued as Jaeha tied the shawl around his head, breathing a little more steady, “What makes you think that?” They’d taken on a passenger–a rare occurrence, but Gigan had her reasons. It was the first time they’d sailed with a passenger since Jaeha had joined her crew, and she’d asked him to help him carry his luggage aboard and show him around the ship. It would be good for him, she thought, but from the looks of it, he’d seen something that really put him on edge. And there was always a chance…Gigan always thoroughly checked her passengers out, but it was possible she’d missed something.

“First of all, he’s too rich,” said Jae-ha. “The kind of clothes he has, he should be on a fancy merchant ship, not–I mean, Captain, your ship is the best ship in the world but it’s not one rich people would pay to travel on…”

“No offence taken, brat,” said Gigan. “Go on.”

“And he kept asking me questions, like how long I’ve been here and if I like sailing and if I had any stories to tell him…”

Gigan held back a smile. “Is that it?”

“No, there’s more! He had a trunk full of books, and at least three of them were about King Hiryuu!” Jae-ha shuddered. “I didn’t even know there were that many books about the guy. No one needs to know that much about—”

“Say he’s tracking down the four legendary dragons and has come after you. What do you want to do about it? Hide in my cabin all the way to Southern Kai?”

Jae-ha looked around at the small room’s wooden walls and flinched, as if he suddenly realized something. He still kept enough secrets that Gigan didn’t know for sure what that might be, but she could guess. “Didn’t you say your power wasn’t meant to be locked away? Doesn’t matter if he figures you out or not, you’re part of my crew, and no one’s taking you anywhere you don’t want to go. Got it?” The boy looked up at her, then nodded resolutely, pulling the shawl back off his head and crumpling it in his hands. “Good choice, kid, that style didn’t suit you,” said Gigan. “By the way, he’s not a spy, and he’s not looking for you.”

“…Captain?”

“We’re the spies. You see, kid, we need a legitimate reason to sail to Southern Kai, so we take on passengers. But you’re right. People rich enough to make the trip wouldn’t normally sail with the likes of us. We end up with the eccentric types. It seems this guy collects all sorts of stories. Maybe he’ll pick up on who you are, maybe he won’t, but from the way he talked, my guess is he’ll leave you be regardless. And if he doesn’t–he’s just a passenger. You’re—” She wanted to say family, but he might fly away if she said that now. “You’re crew.” 


	32. Chapter 32

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> prompt "a platonic kiss" with Neguro and Kouren, from @sorasan000 on tumblr

Three men stood outside the old roadhouse, eyeing the stranger. He stood by his motorcycle, resting against the fence, waiting silently: not an uncommon sight in these parts, except that everything about him said “city.” Though his black hair was long, he was clean-shaven, and his leather jacket looked brand-new, undecorated but for five stars across the back. His bike had no trace of highway dust, and it was some import, not a Harley like the guys from these parts rode. Yeah, this weekend rider didn’t belong at this country roadhouse…but no one was about to tell him that. He was bigger than any of them, for starters, well over six feet tall, and the scars that crisscrossed his face said he’d seen plenty of action. Though his posture was relaxed, he was alert, his eyes keeping careful track of the roadhouse, its parking lot, and the highway all at once. Probably carrying, too. But he wasn’t making trouble, so the three locals let him be. Soon they’d finish their smoke and head back inside, and that would be that.

The door swung open and a girl stepped out. No, you couldn’t call this chick anything but a woman. Tall as an Amazon queen, she had the curves to match, wrapped in tight denim and a cropped black leather jacket that didn’t quite zip shut. She carried a silver helmet under her arm but for now her short copper hair and long black earrings framed her face perfectly. One of the men let out a long, appreciative whistle. “Hey, girl, wanna ride with me?”

The woman narrowed her eyes. Then she turned towards the stranger. Shit, was she his girl? But the stranger didn’t make a move, not until the woman reached his side. She offered him a kiss on the cheek—didn’t even have to stand on her toes to do it—then put her helmet on and mounted the stranger's—no, her—bike. “Come along, then,” her stern voice commanded. Without sparing a single glance back at the three locals, the stranger got on the bike behind her and they sped away into the night.  
  


About a mile from their final destination, she pulled over to the side of the road. “Was that display entirely necessary, Ms Kouren?” the man asked as the woman pulled out a mirror and touched up her makeup by the light of the headlight. “They wouldn’t have given you any trouble.”

“Didn’t you always teach me that the first step in self-defense is creating the right impression? Speaking of which, Neguro—” They switched places; Kouren would be the passenger as they reached their final destination. Oh yes, she knew how to make the right impression, and when to do so. Showing up at a gala at her father’s rival’s country estate on the back of her bodyguard’s motorcycle would say something, that was for sure. Showing up on her own bike would say something else entirely—something it wasn’t time to say just yet. Neguro smiled to himself. Kouren might not quite be ready to take on the world, but when she was—he’d be wherever she needed him to be.


	33. Chapter 33

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> prompt "my nightmares are usually about losing you" with Hiryuu and Abi, from @dazais-guardian-angel

“The king! Get him! Kill the red dragon!” **  
**

 _No!_  Abi feels the tight constriction of the reversal of his power, but his enemies haven’t all fallen. They surround both him and his king, who stands behind him. Abi is on the brink of collapse, aware but powerless, and when a soldier aims a spear in his direction he regrets not the impending loss of his own life, but his inability to protect his king.  _Guen! Shuten! Where are you?_  With his last bit of strength he calls out to his brothers, even to Zeno, praying that they can do what he cannot.

Then a flash of red enters his sight. “You will not touch my Abi.” A slash of Hiryuu’s blade and the enemy soldier falls. The other soldiers converge on him, and with his powers fading Abi sees his king as they do, a whirl of crimson fire, eyes ablaze.  _Get back! There’s too many!_  he wants to scream, but Hiryuu cuts down one after another until Abi can see no more.

When Abi regains consciousness, he’s in the surgeon’s field tent, and he still can’t move. Hiryuu sits before him, no longer wearing his armor. One arm is bandaged, but beneath it, the wound is shallow. Good. Good. His vision begins to blur at the edges and Abi realizes that tears are starting to form, tears whose wetness he still can’t feel.

Hiryuu, watching him, leans forward and dries his eyes. Abi can’t feel his king’s touch, either, and when he realizes  _that_ , tears fill his eyes yet again. “Abi,” says Hiryuu. “Abi. I’m so sorry my brother’s gift has done this to you.”

 _What?_  His king’s words make no sense. Abi is the one who should apologize, if only he could move his mouth to speak.

“You are the strongest,” says Hiryuu. “And the most feared.” He looks down and makes a little half-smile that doesn’t reach his eyes. “I say this now, when you can’t argue, of course. But believe me, I know what my enemies would do if they could reach you.” He takes Abi’s hand, but Abi only knows this from looking.

“I would ask you to hold back,” says Hiryuu, “but I know what my brother instilled in you.” Hs voice takes on a touch of anger. “Still, every time I see you fall—”

Abi feels it now–or is he imagining it?–the warmth of his king’s hand in his.

Hiryuu closes his eyes. “Abi,” he says. “My nightmares are usually about losing you.”

Abi’s breath catches in his throat. He feels  _that._  The effect is wearing off, and not a moment too soon.  _Idiot king,_  he wants to say. _I’m the one who’s meant to feel that for you._  But all he manages, as he finally returns Hiryuu’s gentle grasp of his hand, is a soft, whispered, “King.” 


	34. She's Not Here

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "The fact that Zeno’s medallion always returns to him means he should be able to sell it and scam money with impunity — but I don’t think he’d do it unless he had a really good reason (and probably never for self-care purposes, poor messed-up angst-puppy that he is). Write/draw a situation where you think he would use that option?" (prompt from @akayona-prompts)

Even now, so many years later, Zeno couldn’t bring himself to go back inside the little cottage they’d shared. Couldn’t bring himself to look at the dusty remains of their short life together. It must be at least a century since that time–Zeno knew for a fact it was at least fifty years since his last visit–but the pain of losing Kaya could sometimes still feel as close as if it had happened yesterday.

But then there were those other times, when he found himself living life to the fullest, barely remembering his sadness. Those times were the reason he came back. “Hello, Kaya,” Zeno said, resting a bright pink flower, miraculously still in bloom despite the season, beside her grave marker. “Zeno still remembers you.”

He couldn’t remember minor lords from the palace, couldn’t remember villagers he’d wintered with, children he’d taught. After living so long, forgetting so many, it was his constant nightmare that he’d forget her too. He’d only spent a few short years with Kaya–what were those, set against the unknown future laid out before him? And if Kaya, then what of his brothers? His king? Zeno clutched the medallion against his chest. No. Some memories would be with him forever. He knew they would be, and yet…

“Are you watching from up in heaven, Kaya? Zeno’s sorry he never said…ah, but you don’t need to hear me say that again. Zeno…Zeno’s been traveling. Zeno’s found a lot of people to talk to. Just like Kaya, we cheered each other up!” He looked down at the flower, then up to the sky. “Zeno came back here to say…” Ah, but what more was there to say? Kaya was at peace, and Zeno remembered her.

He curled up next to the gravestone, tattered brown cloak for a blanket, and let the soft chirping of crickets carry him away to sleep.

The sharp thunk of an axe striking wood jolted Zeno awake. Who—? He stood up, looked around. Who had come to disturb Kaya’s home? Who had come to disturb her rest?

“Hey, Lin—there’s a guy over there.”

Zeno turned to the sound of the voice and saw two men, one resting against his axe handle, the other lowering his axe as Zeno turned to face them. They were both big guys, young, one dark-haired, one light. “Hey, you!” called out the dark-haired man, the one who had first spoken. “You don’t live here, do you? We were told the land was empty.” He cast a doubtful look at the decrepit remains of Kaya’s cottage, then at Zeno’s own tattered state, as he and his companion set their axes down and began to approach Zeno.

They had brought a supply cart with them. Zeno opened his mouth, but it was a moment before he could speak. “Zeno…doesn’t live here.” He was still trying to work out what was going on. Anyone was free to come into this valley, but cutting down trees? That was Kaya’s apple tree!

“If you don’t live here, then scram!” said the sandy-haired man. “We don’t need any vagrants. This land’s ours, bought and paid for.”

“Bought…and paid for?”

The dark-haired man raised a hand to calm his companion. “No need for that,” he said. “But yes,” he said, turning back to Zeno. “Lord Han has been selling off parcels of land. We saved up for it, so it’s ours now.”

“Got it cheap on account of it’s supposed to be haunted.”

“We’re going to clear this whole valley, turn it into farmland, bring our families out here. So I’m afraid you’ll have to move on.”

“I—” Zeno’s mouth moved as he tried to find words. Some local lord probably did own this land, technically, with every right to sell it…

“Hey, if you need work, come back in a year!”

Turn it all into farmland. Tear down Kaya’s house, chop down her apple tree…it was good land. Good things would grow here. Zeno looked down at Kaya’s grave marker beside him. “You–you can’t!”

“Huh? What do you mean ‘can’t,’ kid?”

“First…first of all, this is a grave, so—”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about. This land hasn’t been touched in a hundred years.” He, too, glanced down at Kaya’s grave marker, at the flower beside it. “That’s just a stone. If anyone was ever buried here, they’re long since dust.”

“And this is where she lived, so you can’t–you can’t just—” But Kaya didn’t live here anymore.

“Look,” said the sandy-haired man. “I don’t know what your deal is, but this is our land. We can show you the bill of sale if you’re really going to insist.”

“I’ll–I’ll buy it!” said Zeno, frantic. The two men looked at each other skeptically. Zeno dug under his tunic and pulled out his medallion. “Take it,” he said. “Just let Kaya rest.”

The sandy-haired man reached for the medallion, and Zeno winced as he bit into it to test the gold. “It’s real…” he said doubtfully. “But you can’t just–this has to be worth more than—”

“Lin,” said the dark-haired man, reaching for his companion’s hand. “Maybe we should just take it and go. You know what they say about this place…”

“C’mon, you don’t really believe…” Lin looked over at the cottage, then down at the gravestone, then at Zeno, whose torn and dirty clothing and unkempt hair must make him fit right in. Then he looked back at the gold medallion in his hand. “Yeah, let’s go.”

As the two men wheeled their cart away, Zeno found himself shaking, and he sank to his knees, wrapping his arms around the worn gravestone as if he were holding Kaya herself. But Kaya wasn’t here.

When he felt the weight of his medallion heavy on his chest again, he stood up. Sometimes it took only hours to come back, sometimes weeks, and Zeno honestly couldn’t tell. Were there more leaves on the ground than there had been before? Idly, he brushed a few from his hair and looked up at the cool autumn sky.

Would those men come back now that their payment was gone? No, the medallion’s disappearance probably only made them more likely to believe in ghost stories. Or maybe they’d managed to pawn it off before it vanished, and had come out ahead of the game. Now that Zeno’s mind was clearer, he found himself hoping that was the case. They hadn’t done anything wrong–just tried to build a life out here. Just like he and Kaya had, long ago.

Zeno looked back down at the grave marker. The flower he’d placed there was already dry and withered. Ghost stories wouldn’t keep people away forever…but Kaya wasn’t here. One day, all the signs that she had been would be gone, too. But even when that happened, no matter how long it took, Zeno would still remember her.


	35. Chapter 35

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> prompt "moon" with Taewu/Lili from @yelena-chan

Lili used to love nights like these. Crisp, cool air, a soft breeze, the full moon high in the sky, and not a soul in sight. Alone, but for the distant sounds of soldiers in their camps.

And she couldn’t stop looking over her shoulder.

She gritted her teeth and braced herself against a threat that wasn’t there. This was Xing’s border, dammit! Not Sei. Not…that. Lili had chosen to come here herself—after Yona went on ahead, she couldn’t just turn back. So she, Ayura, and Tetora had accompanied the army, and here she was. The soldiers surrounding their camp were her people, her allies—

(even though they had almost killed Yona?)

—and this nighttime stroll to cool her head was not an escape attempt, and—

—and Lili used to love the moon at night.

A crack of a branch behind her, and Lili whirled around, hand flying for the knife she now always carried at her breast. “Don’t come any closer or I’ll kill you too!”

“Hey, it’s okay, I’m not…” A boy stood there, from the wind tribe by his headdress, vaguely familiar. He held up his hands to prove he wasn’t a threat. “Uh…too?”

“I’m not—that’s not—” Lili fished for words to explain herself.

“Please tell me I won’t find any corpses out here,” said the boy. “I really don’t wanna deal with something like that on top of everything else.”

“No.” Lili paused. “Come on, you didn’t really think—”

“You looked like you meant it!”

Lili had meant it. That was the problem.

“Hey,” the boy continued. “Aren’t you General Jun-gi’s daughter? Lady Lili?”

“…how’d you know that?”

“I saw you in Sei,” the boy explained. “I’m Tae-wu, of the wind tribe.” No way, this squirt was a general? Then the rest of what he’d said sunk in.  _I saw you in Sei._  Crap. “I guess I don’t blame you for startling easy,” he added.

Ohhhh no he didn’t. “I’ll have you know that since that time I’ve stared down hardened criminals! I do  _not_ —” What was she doing? She didn’t know this guy. She didn’t owe him an explanation. Maybe he was a general, but not a really impressive one like Geun-tae. It didn’t matter what he thought of her.

It didn’t matter if he knew the truth.

“It was a night…very much like this one…when I ran away from Kushibi’s fort.” He could guess the rest.

For such a young kid, Tae-wu took it in stride. He stepped closer to her and reached out, and it took Lili a moment to realize he was reaching for her hand.

She was still holding her knife. He didn’t seem to mind.

What the hell. It didn’t matter what he thought of her. She’d probably never see him again, right? Lili quickly sheathed her knife, then took his hand.

“Sometimes it’s good to be alone,” said Tae-wu. “I came out here to think over some stuff, but…maybe tonight isn’t one of those times. We’re having a party at our camp. Do you want to come back with me?”

Lili glanced up at the sky, and imagined the cold and lonely moon fading away into a warm, bright campfire. If a stranger could accept the part of herself she couldn’t show her father, couldn’t even share with Ayura and Tetora…then maybe it would really be alright if she did, too.


	36. The Beast of the Chi'shin Hills

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> prompt "urban legend" with Geuntae/Yuno from @peachchanvidel

Rumor came to Chi’shin Castle in the height of summer, of a fierce monster stalking the green hills above the town. No one could say they had seen it themselves, yet everyone had that friend of a friend, who’d heard tell of its thunderous roar, or its enormous height, or its dense shaggy fur, or sharp talons, or—no one could agree exactly what it was supposed to look like, of course. 

The one fact that everyone accepted was that the monster protected the forest. Chi’shin had prospered lately—so much so that it was bursting at the seams, the neighboring farmlands no longer able to provide for all the city-dwellers. Geuntae himself had proposed clearing the forest, and that was when the monster first appeared.

After two weeks of delays as scouts sought out the truth behind the rumor, Geuntae grew impatient, and announced that he would slay the beast himself.

“Wait! You can’t!” Lady Yuno protested upon hearing his decision.

“—huh?” It seemed that Geuntae had not expected this—had expected, rather, for his wife to applaud his firm resolve.

“Isn’t…isn’t it too dangerous?”

“No one has even seen this creature,” Geuntae assured his wife. “But come now, Yuno, you know that I’m a match for any beast.”

“Yes—I mean, yes, of course you are!” Yuno backtracked. “It’s just—well—in that case, take me with you!”

“What?” It was possible this startled Geuntae even more than her demand not to go. “Didn’t you just say it was too dangerous?”

“But you’re right, it won’t be dangerous at all if you’re with me. Lord Geuntae,” she pleaded, “it’s been barely a month since you returned from fighting in Sei. Oh, how I wished I could have seen you in action then! But I’ll never follow you onto the battlefield, so this—”

Geuntae paused, considering. Perhaps he was remembering those first few nights after his return from Sei. “Well…when you say it like that…oh, fine, you can come along. But you can’t wear those frilly clothes! We’ll be in the wilderness, remember!” Lady Yuno only nodded happily.

Lady Yuno’s large and varied wardrobe was well known throughout Chi’shin, so it should not have been a surprise when the next morning found her in pracitical outdoor clothes. She promised to stay behind her lord as they entered the woods, but with the cool morning breeze, the sweet singing of birds, they found themselves walking hand in hand as often as not. 

“Maybe there’s nothing to this story after all,” Geuntae grumbled as the day wore on.

“Why do you say that?”

“No tracks or trails, no disturbed brush…no sign of any large predators at all, let alone this rumored monster. Damn! I was hoping for some action.” He sighed. “Well, the workers can start, at least.”

“Not yet!” Yuno protested. Then, when Geuntae frowned at her, “I mean…shouldn’t we keep going?”

“Ah, Yuno, you’re right. Maybe we’ll see something yet!”

The forest grew more dense, more dark, the further up the mountain they climbed, but still there was no sign of the rumored monster. “Well, that’s odd,” said Geuntae, stopping in his tracks.

“Ah? What is?”

“There’s a ribbon tied to that bush. There’s ribbons tied to a whole lot of them.”

“Maybe…maybe someone’s using this forest, and we should leave it alone!”

“Someone’s using it for something, that’s for sure,” said Geuntae. “They’re different colors…some kind of weird cult? Did they summon a monster, or did they just tell stories? I wonder if I should get the army involved to investigate. No,” he kept on, murmuring to himself, “that went pretty badly the last time…”

“I—” Lady Yuno no longer held her husband’s hand. She was looking down, wringing her hands together, nearly trembling.

“Yuno. What’s wrong?”

“I did it!”

“…huh?”

She blushed a furious red. “I started the rumors about the monster! I didn’t want you to cut down the forest, you see, because there’s wild-grown tea out here, really ancient trees, and you can’t reproduce that on a plantation—that’s what the ribbons are for, to mark when they’ve been picked—and—”

Geuntae stared at her in stunned silence. Then a guffaw escaped his chest. “Yuno, Yuno,” he said, when he’d finally stopped laughing. “Why didn’t you just ask?”

“You’d have said it was just a hobby, and a smelly one at that!”

He sighed and shook his head. “You’ve got to stop thinking of it as a hobby when your tea is the reason Chi’shin is doing so well in the first place! You can have your dumb forest.”

“You won’t cut it down?”

“’Course not. They can find other farmland. By the way,” he added as they turned back to walk out of the forest together, “I’m impressed with how you got that rumor going so fast.”

“Oh, well, when you sell a product, you learn who to talk to, to spread word quickly…”

And thus ended the brief reign of the great beast of the Chi’shin hills, whose name lives on as a marker of the Earth Tribe’s highest quality of high-grown tea. Later stories would tell how the monster came forth to protect its crop until Lady Yuno could show the world its worth, but this is the truth of the matter.


	37. Chapter 37

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> haunted prompts "it was in the mirror" with Jaeha, from @yelena-chan

A chill breeze whisped through the forest, tugging green locks of hair loose just as Jaeha was about to tie them back. He pulled a little mirror from a pocket to check that everything was in place, and as he did, something caught his eye. Shinah, waiting silently behind him. “Was there something…?” Jaeha trailed off as he turned around to face Shinah, looking into the blank gaze of the blue dragon’s mask. Something wasn’t…

_His reflection hadn’t been masked._

“Yun asked for you,” Shinah said, seemingly oblivious to anything unusual, and Jaeha lifted the mirror again to make sure his eyes hadn’t tricked him. And there he was. No mask. Even back when Jaeha used to constantly try to look into Shinah’s eyes, this would have held him up. But that game had soured ever since he’d seen his brother taken over by that spirit of a Seiryuu past, and now–

The golden eyes in the mirror met Jaeha’s own, and he shivered. He knew that look. The unmasked face flashed him a wicked grin and Jaeha forced the mirror down. Turned to look at his brother before him. “You’re not Shinah,” he said.

A curious tilt of the blue dragon’s head.

“You’re that other one. My god, how long—?” Weeks had passed since they left that place.

“…oh,” said Shinah. “It’s…fine.”

“No, it’s not fine,” Jaeha insisted. “Shinah, if that thing is still possessing you—”

“Yona said he could stay,” said Shinah. “He’s not…he’s just watching.”

“Oh, Shinah.” Jaeha shook his head. Even allowing that to be true, it still meant that Shinah’s mind wasn’t fully his own. It wasn’t fine! “Yona said that because she felt sorry for him. She didn’t want you to live like this.”

“He…never got to live under the sunlight.”

“You feel sorry for him too,” Jaeha concluded with a sigh. He supposed it was hard not to, knowing the spirit’s story.

Shinah nodded. “He’s not…like that time, anymore. But…you can talk to him.” Then he lowered his mask.

“No,” said Jaeha. “No, no no. Get out.”

“Relax,” said the blue dragon, lips curling into a smile horribly foreign to Shinah’s face. “He’d almost forgotten I was here, until you reminded him just now. I’m just along for the ride.”

“Not with Shinah. Not after what you made him do.”

“Haven’t you forgiven me for that? Shinah has. He wanted me to see the beauty of the world, you see.”

“And I can’t blame either of you for wanting that,” Jaeha said. “But do it somewhere else! Shinah, can you still hear me?” He reached out a hand to the blue dragon’s shoulder, and for once looked him directly in the eyes. “Shinah, you don’t have to—”

“…Jaeha. Jaeha.”

Jaeha blinked. He was lying on the ground, looking up at Shinah–mask back in place.

“He’s gone,” said Shinah as Jaeha stood back up. “What happened?”

What happened, indeed? Jaeha felt a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach. “He’s gone,” he repeated, his mouth twisting to form the words against his will. “He agreed it was time to move on.  _No. Not this! Shinah!_  Shinah bowed his head, and almost smiled. “You can go back to camp,” the spirit forced Jaeha to speak again. “I’ll be back soon.”

_Do it somewhere else, you said. You gave me your permission._

“That’s not what I meant and you know it!” Jaeha hissed under his breath. Out loud. His own words. “Shin—” His mouth clamped shut.

 _Now, now. You don’t have the power to expel me_ , the spirit reminded him.  _But don’t worry. I’ll keep my promise to Shinah. From now on, I am merely an observer._

“Then you can’t keep me from telling the others.”

 _No,_  the spirit agreed.  _You’ll do that yourself._

…because if the others knew, if Shinah knew…then Shinah would take him back. And however much Jaeha might value his freedom, however kind and willing Shinah might be…Jaeha wasn’t the one who’d been forced to watch helplessly as his own body turned on his friends. If this was what it took to ensure the spirit never touched Shinah again…well, so be it.

And he did deserve more than his own sad life, after all. Every dragon did. “You died underground,” Jaeha said. “Would you like to see what it is to fly free?”

The ghost didn’t answer. Maybe he really would just observe, and maybe Jaeha would be left forever wondering how much of this was real. How likely his body was to betray him at any moment. Flying had always felt like running away–and as always, he couldn’t escape what he carried with him.

The wind in the skies streamed through his hair. Out of habit, he pulled out his mirror to check it as he landed, and–oh, he’d never have to question what was real. Staring back at him was his face but not his face, his face with a Seiryuu’s features: blue hair, red marks gracing his cheeks, and those inescapable golden eyes. Jaeha shivered. His reflection did not. “Well, well, well,” Jaeha murmured. He’d always wanted to look into Seiryuu’s beautiful eyes. Now, they would always be waiting for him.


	38. Chapter 38

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> haunted prompts "imaginary friend" with Shinah, from @hanyounomiko

“Ao said…even if I fought with a sword, I probably can’t make friends.” The little boy reaches out as if to touch him, then stops short. He looks down. “You’re…not my friend, are you?”

The soldier sighs. He can’t say exactly what he is to the boy. “Think of me as your imaginary friend.”

“‘maginary?”

“Pretend.”

“Oh…then I’ve got lots of ‘maginary friends. I like to pretend all the other children in this village are my friends, even if they don’t…”

 _Damn this village!_  Half-coherent thoughts of what he could do to them form and flit away. Anything he does will only make it worse for the boy.

“Even if Ao was right, I’m still going to try!” the boy announces, drawing his dagger. The sword is still too much for him. “Train with me?”

The soldier takes his own sword in hand. He lets the boy lead–he never learned any of these fancy katas. He’d just taken the blade his lord had given him and gone where his lord had sent him, and in the end, no amount of training would have made a difference.

“I know what you are, though,” says the boy, lowering his dagger at the end of his routine. “I know why you can only ever be a ‘maginary friend.” The boy’s mask remains in place, but he can still feel himself pierced by those eyes. It’s the only thing he can feel. “It’s because I killed you, isn’t it?”

* * *

The last place his lord sends him is to an unknown village, to seek out an unknown swordsman rumored to be one of the four dragons of legend. The demon gives them no warning. The first rank of soldiers simply falls down dead. Then panic spreads through the lines almost as quickly as the demon’s reach–his closest companion, marching by his side, dies all unknowing.

That’s what he hopes, anyway.

He sees those claws reach through his brother’s chest, feels them tear through his own, and then–he doesn’t know what keeps him here when all the others have moved on. The first thing he recalls after that–after dying–is the image of a boy, facedown in the mud, and his own rage at a demon who would attack so indiscriminately that even an innocent boy would be caught in its path.

He’ll do everything in his power to curse the monster that did this.

He watches until the boy wakes. Until he opens his eyes, and the curse takes hold. “You did this!” he rages, only to be met with the boy’s constant cries of “I’m sorry! I’m sorry! I’m sorry!”

Villagers come to the boy too. “You did this,” they speak accusingly, and are given the same reply. He can see the demon in the boy’s eyes but this boy is not a murderer, and he doesn’t understand.

* * *

“That’s right,” says the soldier. “And now I have to move on.”

“N-no! I’ll get better! I’ll train so I never have to use my eyes again!”

He gives the boy a sad half-smile. “You do that,” he says, “but that won’t keep me here.”

“But…but if you go…then you’re really…then I really…” His voice is trembling, terrified.

“Yes. You did.” The boy erupts into full-fledged sobs. “I bound myself to you when I swore vengeance on the demon that killed me, but you…you already bear a curse I wouldn’t wish on anyone. And vengeance…” At the boy’s side for months now, he’d seen how the village shunned him. Seen how they created the very monster they sought to contain. If he could curse these villagers without hurting the boy, he’d revel in it. “If I stay, I’m going to become an evil spirit. You wouldn’t want that, would you? You know what it’s like.” The boy nods, tears still streaming from beneath his mask. “So I have to move on, while I can still make that choice.”

“…Ao…”

 

He doesn’t know what the boy is trying to say.  _Ao left me too_  or  _greet Ao in heaven for me_  or simply crying out for the one person who’d ever cared for him. So he doesn’t try to reply, exactly. “Ao was wrong,” he says. “You made a friend even out of me. So wait, and live, and one day, you’ll find a real one.”


	39. Chapter 39

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> haunted prompts "she died seven years ago" with Suwon, from @yelena-chan

“ _Now_  are you ready to go?”

“I have just one more small errand. Please wait just a little longer.” Su-won nearly laughed as Ju-do scowled up at him. “Don’t look like that, General! Didn’t you just say you expected me gone until dusk? This won’t take that long.”

Even so, the general only gave him a sullen mutter of “go, then,” as Su-won turned back towards the sea. They were already set to spend far less time in Awa than originally planned. Su-won gazed out over the town as he walked down the rocky path. The buildings no longer cast their long shadows as the sun rose above them, and the very atmosphere of the town was different than when they’d arrived. The scene below him gave off the hopeful air of a fresh start.

(Finding that person alive—she had always given him hope, too. The one had nothing to do with the other.)

But even if the town’s citizens had taken care of Yang Kum-ji on their own, Su-won still owed a favor to the one who had sent him here. Kum-ji’s illegal business had left records…but they were well hidden, and the exact nature of his dealings could have easily remained shrouded in darkness. He might never have come to Awa at all but for the woman who had met him in the dark alley outside of Ogi’s hideout. She wore a long cloak and never showed him her face, but after telling him of the horrors she and so many other women endured at the hands of Yang Kum-ji, she had given him a name and asked him to deliver a message to her family.

As telling all of that to Ju-do would have meant explaining what he was doing in the Kuuto slums in the first place, Su-won made his way down to the little fisherman’s hut on the far side of the town alone. The ocean breeze whipped the hood away from his face as he tapped at the door, and it occurred to him that mid-morning might be a poor time to expect to find a fisherman at home.

A middle-aged man answered the door. He looked like he’d just woken up, and Su-won recalled the signs of celebration in the town. “What is it?”

“Ah…would you happen to be the brother of a woman named Ranna?”

The man stiffened. “She died seven years ago.”

Suddenly that breeze no longer felt so refreshing. “That can’t be. I met her in Kuuto. Perhaps—”

“I buried her myself.”

Su-won looked down. It was obvious, in retrospect. “She…asked me to tell her family she had found peace.” He was met with a very long silence. “Ah…I’m sorry. I’ll leave you now—”

“‘Course she found peace,” said the man gruffly. “Kum-ji’s dead, isn’t he?” He looked away. “You can go.” Then he quietly, but very deliberately, shut the door in Su-won’s face.

Su-won closed his eyes and took one long, deep breath, then looked up to the heavens. So, someone had wanted him to come here? But the people had taken matters into their own hands. If Su-won had been sent, he had been sent too late, only arriving in time to—

Ah. To see that Yona was still alive.

He pulled his hood back over his head and turned his eyes from the heavens. There was no denying it—seeing Yona alive had lifted a weight from his heart. But it wouldn’t matter, in the end. There were still things that he must do.

**Author's Note:**

> come find me at [fallenwithstyle](http://fallenwithstyle.tumblr.com) on tumblr if you want!


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